Trending Story – The Washington Post's Mass Layoffs are Silencing Black Voices
- editorial team
- 22 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Major news outlets such as The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times are cutting down on staff again, and the journalists they hired for diversity in 2020 are the first to go, leaving marginalized communities without coverage.
By: MMM Editorial Team
The Washington Post announced one-third of its staff was being laid off earlier this month, and this move has created waves across the news industry.
After a monumental expansion in 2020, the newsroom doubled its Race and Culture department, but, as of 2026, the newsroom has quickly pivoted. The mass layoffs have had strong effects on teams covering the intersection of policy, identity, and justice. As well as international news and other major topics and beats.
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The Post is not the only organization undergoing mass layoffs.
The Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal have also seen multiple rounds of job cuts since early 2026. The journalism industry is greatly suffering from underfunding. For Black journalists and those on the race beat, this reality is sobering. It appears the diversity and equity promised in the wake of George Floyd's murder were more of a seasonal trend rather than progressive growth in the system.
The Post claimed to tell a story of "last in, first out" when it came to deciding who would be laid off. However, former Post race and ethnicity reporter Emmanuel Felton noted the layoffs led to a newsroom that is 90% white. Many of those who lost jobs were those covering race and ethnicity, and the Post has also stopped its newsletter around "candid conversations about race and identity in 21st century America."
The impact of these decisions is felt sharply in the lack of depth in local coverage and national social justice issues. When the race and culture beat is understaffed, stories about racism and inequity are neglected or ignored entirely. However, so goes to positive coverage of growing Black businesses, visionaries transforming industries and other solution-oriented changes.
[Related] [PR Tip] Special Edition with NY Reporter Genae Shields on Being Ignored in the Newsroom & How to Break that Silence with Impactful Pitching
Stranded in the Field
Another example of this industry failure is the complete abandonment of embedded journalists. Many international correspondents lost their jobs while residing in an active war zone. These workers were let go while on assignment, leaving them with no path home and no institutional support.
This demonstrates a clear lack of care and highlights a systemic disregard for the safety of storytellers. Trust between organizations and journalists is being broken, and the community is losing its bridge to the public narrative. Journalists are having to shoulder professional and personal fallout alone.
[Related] [PR Tip] Special Edition with NY Reporter Genae Shields on Being Ignored in the Newsroom & How to Break that Silence with Impactful Pitching
How does MMM play a role and how does this change our work?
MMM works with many visionary CEOs, elevating stories that matter and teams of journalists at major newsrooms are typically an easy way to get new stories and those just getting on the radar into bigger outlets.
MMM has been reporting on this issue for years, demonstrating a slow leak that turned into a tsunami of layoffs. After interviewing prominent, older editors and reporters who have been through similar cycles, we changed a few things:
MMM works with specific journalists, preferring this to newsrooms where staff and leadership often change. Vocation rarely does, which means a laid off journalist often goes to another room and our story can follow
We support their transition, recommending them for new roles because while it helps us get more placements, in the long-term it builds a healthier, more robust mediascape.
We've pushed for deeper angles. As our PR tip with reporter Genae Shields shows-- it's not enough to be a Black business owner like it was in 2020. Today you must be actively solving a problem. We have since began pitching deeper, richer angles from climate change to politics and responding to national trending issues.
The Bottom Line:
Regular, ongoing coverage of Black communities was treated as a trend for mainstream news but it's not for many of the thousands of journalists and newsrooms who understand the value of these stories. Ensuring Black journalists have a safe place to land and our stories don't get ignored in the transition is our goal as a media firm.
Interested in working with our team? Book a discovery call below:
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