The Washington Post is within striking distance of breaking even financially after years of steep losses, staff cuts and leadership changes, Executive Editor Matt Murray said this week at the Web Summit conference.
Murray told Adweek that the privately held newspaper, owned by Jeff Bezos’ Nash Holdings, had incurred “hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars” in losses in recent years. He said the paper is now close to break-even and expects 2027 to be its strongest year in seven years after completing what he described as necessary “right-sizing.”
A company spokesperson said third-quarter direct advertising sales recorded their strongest year-over-year growth since 2021. Programmatic revenue rose 48% year over year as of September.
The newsroom has begun hiring again after earlier reductions. Recent additions include James Politi from the Financial Times, Nancy Cook from Bloomberg and Ian Ward from Politico, among others.
The paper is also relaunching its internal Ben Bradlee award, which recognizes outstanding reporting. Murray said the award will go Tuesday to Hannah Natanson, a reporter whose Virginia home was searched by the FBI in January as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of retaining classified materials. The Post has said neither Natanson nor the newspaper was a target of the probe.
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| Matt Murray |
The newsroom has begun hiring again after earlier reductions. Recent additions include James Politi from the Financial Times, Nancy Cook from Bloomberg and Ian Ward from Politico, among others.
The paper is also relaunching its internal Ben Bradlee award, which recognizes outstanding reporting. Murray said the award will go Tuesday to Hannah Natanson, a reporter whose Virginia home was searched by the FBI in January as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of retaining classified materials. The Post has said neither Natanson nor the newspaper was a target of the probe.
Murray, speaking about the broader recovery effort, said the focus after recent turmoil has been on stability, core coverage areas such as politics and national security, and producing exclusive reporting. The paper does not publicly release detailed financial figures.
Murray, speaking about the broader recovery effort, said the focus after recent turmoil has been on stability, core coverage areas such as politics and national security, and producing exclusive reporting. The paper does not publicly release detailed financial figures.