Every Sunday for nine years, I would wake up, walk downstairs to my kitchen and prop up The Washington Post against my cereal box as I ate breakfast. First, I read the comics, sounding out the words as I learned to read. As I got older, it was KidsPost and the Sudoku. Then, advice columns and book reviews turned into political and international coverage as I grew, eagerly consuming everything I could about the world around me. 

For many, The Post was a staple growing up, as it provided news for people living in the Greater Washington area and beyond. However, on Feb. 4, that all changed. The Washington Post under the direction of owner Jeff Bezos, laid off almost half of its workforce, cutting their sports and books sections, the podcast Post Reports and generally restructuring the newspaper. 

As one of the country’s foremost international newspapers with a uniquely close view of politics due to its base in the capital, the Post’s extreme cuts will not only decimate its ability to cover topics, events and stories, but also signal a potential warning sign for the future of traditional media as a whole.

When multibillionaire founder of Amazon Jeff Bezos bought the Post in 2013, he set out to elevate it to an international newspaper. However, this pursuit led to a decline in quality and frequency of local coverage in favor of political and national news. Susan Hughes from the Harvard Kennedy School wrote: “For a couple of decades… we’ve been losing newspapers for understandable reasons… I think where it hurts the most is in the Metro coverage, the local coverage,” she said.

When large newspapers like The Washington Post focus on international news rather than local, communities suffer. According to the Columbia Journalism Review, areas where local newspapers closed reported a 6.9% increase in corruption charges of government officials; when local news coverage declines, oversight disappears. Yet in 2025, only 21% of Americans said they follow local news very closely, down from 37% in 2016, the Pew Research Center reported.

Despite downward trends, the layoffs were a blow to many. However, Brian Cleveland, former Head of Print for the Washington Post, wasn’t surprised. Cleveland, who left the Post in January, said newspaper companies have begun to struggle with readership decline in large part due to the rise of social media.

“The amount of people getting their news from social media now is significantly different than it was 10 years ago,” he said. “Part of it is declining readership, but that is also tied with changing reader habits [as] technology changes. … It’s not just The Post, but all news organizations have [had] to adjust to those reader habits and how people are consuming news.”

Even before the layoffs, many readers became disenchanted with the news as a whole, seeing newspapers filled with more war, conflict and tragedy. Like 52% of Americans, according to the Pew Research Center, I experienced news fatigue. I was worn out by the amount of depressing news surrounding me.

Another issue is the constant bombardment of “newsertainment,” what Montgomery Banner reporter Pamela Wood describes as media outlets who spend time rehashing news for entertainment. Wood also says that as a reporter for the Banner, a local newspaper in Montgomery County, she was upset to see how The Post handled recent local news coverage.

“In particular, as a local resident in Maryland, I was so disappointed to see the Washington Post absolutely gut… their local news in Maryland, D.C. and Virginia, because… they sort of abandoned their own backyard,” she said. “It’s great that The Post does top-notch national and international reporting, but very disappointing that they gave up on their hometown.”

When The Washington Post refocused on international news, it lost touch with its local base, and in its eventual decline, both the paper and its readers suffered. However, when local newspapers cover important stories that cater to their audience, they don’t have to spread themselves thin or resort to dramatization and can create better quality news.

Even in this era where reputable sources can’t keep interest in an oversaturated media landscape, it’s important to prioritize truth over sensationalism and support local news organizations who give back to the community. We must encourage coverage of local news at the Post and other reputable news outlets and ensure that coverage is not made for shareholders or the global reader, but community members who need it most.