How Jeff Bezos Broke The Washington Post

Radio Atlantic

The Atlantic

Politics, Society & Culture, News

4.3 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 5 February 2026

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In a dismal morning Zoom call on Wednesday, The Washington Post’s executive editor, Matt Murray, announced that they were laying off roughly a third of its already diminished staff. We talk to Joshua Benton, the founder of and a senior writer at the Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard University, about how the Post reached this point, the loss to journalism, and how Jeff Bezos is uniquely responsible. - - - Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/Listener. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:32.9	Seven years ago, around this time, the Washington Post ran an ad in the Super Bowl.
0:42.5	Democracy dies in darkness.
0:45.3	It showed scenes of fires, explosions, floods, tanks, and journalists who have risked their lives for their profession.
0:53.1	All with swelling music and a voiceover by Tom Hanks.
0:57.5	Knowing helps us decide.
1:00.9	Knowing keeps us free.
1:04.9	But then just before the Super Bowl this year,
1:08.2	the Post took a different turn,
1:10.1	and it was not another Super Bowl ad.
1:12.5	Good morning, everybody. Thank you for joining us.
1:16.0	On Wednesday, Post staffers joined a Zoom call first thing in the morning. Executive editor Matt
	...

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