Chelsea Whyte

My ask to the journalists who are posting solidarity or "sad for my friends/colleagues" posts. Please stop! Be strategic: your post clogs up the feed at a moment when your laid off friends NEED the airtime. Instead of that you can RT their post with comment, pay to boost the posts of your colleagues, signal boost by commenting (give them a recommendation). That is way more helpful than virtue signalling. Exception: Hiring managers and recruiters with actual hiring power, you post those jobs and your emails! Sincerely, Previously Laid Off Journalist

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Liza Tobin See this on how Chen Yixin, MSS chief, told us that. The policy is: Accelerate and Control (for the CCP): https://lnkd.in/enqjnXkb

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What's going on for Public Information Officers (PIOs), preparing for communications in a crisis? 1. Getting to know reporters who have become content creators 2. Getting to know content creators who are becoming reporters 3. Knowing that everyone is a reporter 4. ...and a video editor 5. ...and a broadcaster 6. Learning to work with that, rather than police it 7. Knowing that there is a lot of made-up content out there 8. But also knowing that just because something is negative doesn't mean it's made-up 9. Being part of the information feed into the Joint Information Center (JIC) 10. Not just a vehicle for information coming out of the JIC Learning to live with fewer boundaries and even greater responsibility.

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#UPDATE Today, February 4, 2026, The Washington Post informed employees of widespread layoffs that will reduce its total workforce by approximately one-third. This includes more than 300 journalists from a newsroom of roughly 800, along with cuts across business and other departments. Executive Editor Matt Murray announced the changes during an early-morning company-wide call, describing them as “difficult but decisive actions” needed to secure the paper’s future in a crowded and competitive media landscape. The restructuring hits several key areas hard. The iconic sports department will close in its current form, with only a small number of staff reassigned to features to cover sports as a cultural phenomenon. The books section will be eliminated entirely, the daily news podcast “Post Reports” suspended, and the metro/local news team significantly restructured. International reporting will shrink, though about 12 foreign bureaus focused on national security will remain. The emphasis is shifting toward national politics, government, business, health, science, technology, and climate coverage. These cuts follow years of mounting financial losses. The Post has not turned a consistent profit since Jeff Bezos purchased it in 2013, despite earlier periods of growth. Previous rounds included voluntary buyouts in 2023–2024 and smaller targeted layoffs in 2024–2025, but today’s reductions are the most extensive in recent memory. Staff reactions have been stark. Employees described the day as an “absolute bloodbath,” and the newsroom union called the cuts “not inevitable,” announcing a protest outside headquarters tomorrow. Former Executive Editor Marty Baron labeled it “one of the darkest days” in the Post’s 150+ year history, warning that the public will lose vital local and global fact-based reporting at a time when it is needed most. This is a sobering moment for journalism. The Post has long been a pillar of investigative reporting—from Watergate onward—and these changes raise big questions about the sustainability of legacy media in the digital era. What are your thoughts? How do you see the future of quality news organizations balancing financial reality with their mission?

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The War Horse News just won two journalism awards from Military Reporters & Editors! Leah Rosenbaum won in the investigative reporting category for a series exposing the multimillion-dollar industry of companies that charge veterans for help obtaining disability benefits—often for services they can receive for free. Leah's reporting showed how these companies operate even after being warned by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that they may be breaking federal law. Some have spent millions lobbying lawmakers to protect their business model. Rachel Fobar won in enterprise reporting for a deep dive into the military's little-known "titling" system, which has resulted in thousands of service members being listed in an Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) criminal database despite never being arrested or charged with a crime. Congratulations to Leah, Rachel, and all of this year's winners. And thank you to Military Reporters & Editors for recognizing their important work. I'll drop links to both investigations in the comments.

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THIS. Read the post below. Anyone can set up shop on a platform. But, for most of us, proper news reporting is time-intensive to the point that unless you have a spouse supporting you financially or with health insurance, a family safety net, or willing to hemorrhage savings - making a newsletter *profitable* is insanely hard. Don't get me wrong, I am so impressed by the writers who have done it! However, that is definitely not going to be all of us given the economics of subscription models.

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