Dispatch from the leakiest newsroom in America - WaPo

On top of the many departures publicly announced, I've lost three newsroom colleagues in a week, and one the week before that -- all voluntary, and all just in my personal circle.

WSJ reports today that we lost $100 million, which is news to us.

Which begs the question. HOW DO YOU LOSE $100 million?

- It was an election year, which is normally the highest performing time for an outlet focused on US politics. While I don't love Trump, Elon & friends, they are good for clicks. That's how we got a rise in revenue during Trump round one.

- 240 staff took buyouts in 2023.

- 100 staff were cut in the latest layoffs (which they said was 4% of the workforce, so I guess we started at ~2,500.) This is on top of other layoffs to engineering and product.

- There have been resignations by expensive senior editors and star reporters

The math doesn't math. I guestimate (since our boss doesn't disclose figures) that we've lost ~300-400 staff out of 2,500, or 10-15%, since 2023.

How do you lose more money, after severely cutting your expenditure?