Washington Post Sports is dead (HTTR)

[PowerBoater69]

I forget the reporter name but he was long gone when it came up again. Like ten years. And wasn’t led by the Post.  The Post killed it originally by sponsoring a poll.  One writer doesn’t equal leading any charge.

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/15608840/native-americans-say-unbothered-redskins-team-name-washington-post-poll

It was Wise who led the charge, but he was far from the only one. You could do a search on each of their names and the word Redskins to find the list. No other news organization was pushing the change, just the Post.

[Natsinpwc]

It was Wise who led the charge, but he was far from the only one. You could do a search on each of their names and the word Redskins to find the list. No other news organization was pushing the change, just the Post.

It faded mostly when he left.  Looked it up and he left December 2014.  The one article
I posted was Sally Jenkins using the Redskins name.  After that poll the issue faded away and everyone was using Redskins. Until the social unrest in 2020. Then it came back again.

[HalfSmokes]

It faded mostly when he left.  Looked it up and he left December 2014.  The one article
I posted was Sally Jenkins using the Redskins name.  After that poll the issue faded away and everyone was using Redskins. Until the social unrest in 2020. Then it came back again.

It came back when minority owners thought Snyder was screwing them over and they used it to get back at him

[Natsinpwc]

It came back when minority owners thought Snyder was screwing them over and they used it to get back at him

Whatever it takes!

[imref]

Passan:

The Washington Post has the best sports section in the country, and I don’t think it’s particularly close. Only a soulless corporate goon would think the paper is better without it. A short-sighted, cowardly decision. Shame is your legacy.

[1995hoo]

Reports circulating that the Post will no longer send reporters on the road to cover the Caps, Bullets, or Mystics. With the report about spring training, you have to think the same would also be the case for the Nats, especially given that they play more games than the other three teams.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

Thiessen has about as much gravitas as Hello Kitty

The Post Editorial page is full of light-weight thinkers who write silly columns. 

[welch]

The Times reports that the Post is about to cut deeply into sports and international reporting. That's from Erik Wemple, who used to write "The Erik Wemple Blog" in the Post.

[HalfSmokes]

The Times reports that the Post is about to cut deeply into sports and international reporting. That's from Erik Wemple, who used to write "The Erik Wemple Blog" in the Post.

Local too. They’re going to be politico with a paywall. I wonder how much longer any locals will subscribe

[imref]

Svrluga says that the Post editor has informed staff that they "will be closing the sports department in its current form".

They are in the middle of holding a Zoom call to announce significant restructuring, all employees were told to stay home.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/business/media/washington-post-layoffs.html

Via Max Tani:

Murray says the Post will be closing the sports department “in its current form.” The paper plans to retain several reporters to join features and cover sports as a “cultural and societal phenomenon,” and will have a few employees on its print sports section.

[imref]

Confirmed layoffs:
- Spencer Nusbaum (Nationals)
- Andrew Golden (Nationals)
- Jesse Dougherty (college sports)
- Will Hobson (investigative reporter focusing on sports)
- Neil Greenberg (stats-focused coverage of DC sports)
- Mark Maske (NFL)
- Scott Allen
- Bailey Johnson (Capitals)
- Tashan Reed (Commanders)

Varun Shankar, who had been the lead Wizards reporter, left a couple of weeks ago to take a job at the Houston Chronicle covering the Rockets.

Waiting to hear on Barry Svrluga.

[KV]

Just another affirmation of my decision to drop my subscription after 40+ years.

[imref]

Add Golden to the list of cuts. There are no longer any reporters at the Washington Post covering the Nats.

Dougherty laid off too.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Just another affirmation of my decision to drop my subscription after 40+ years.

Gee, I hope they cut their subscription price because I'll be getting half a paper.

Yes, I'll wind down my subscription. I will probably subscribe to the NYT and maybe the Guardian or Texas Tribune (Boston.com for baseball season).

Svrluga is in a tough position as I think Susan S also works there. I think both Barry S and Chelsea Janes can land anyplace they want if they want.

As for the "cultural and social" angle, I'm not sure how much bigger a cultural and social phenomenon there is than the Super Bowl.

[Smithian]

I’ll miss their Nationals coverage. Their other sports reporting was never top-notch.

Their local news coverage has long been disappointing. Missing the Caps and Wizards trying to move to NoVa remains shocking.

I’m not sure what the solution is at the WaPo. Everything I read suggests Bezos is losing money hand over fist. Compare that to the NYT, which subsidizes its hard coverage with high-margin products like crosswords, cooking, and other lifestyle offerings.

That said, there’s definitely a niche for a local news outlet to take a big leap forward. I don’t expect it to break into national news, but as a DC resident, I’d love better coverage of the DMV. I don’t need another outlet reporting on Congressional news day-to-day. I want consistent, reliable sources that explain what’s happening in DC and the surrounding suburbs, touching on national news only when it directly affects life here in a way most other Americans wouldn’t notice.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

NYT, The Guardian, and The Hill are sort of plugging the gaps...I really miss having a local paper, but that ship has sailed.  The BBC paywall is a major pisser.

[blue911]

Print based news works best in areas with large numbers of mass transit users. I’m damn near 70 and my whole life has been one slow long dirge for the newspaper industry.

[imref]

Chelsea Janes hasn't posted anything yet, probably would have by now if she had been laid off.

[imref]

Print based news works best in areas with large numbers of mass transit users. I’m damn near 70 and my whole life has been one slow long dirge for the newspaper industry.

FWIW, the NYT is profitable and growing. Not to get into the political side, but Bezos has to walk a fine line with the Post given the reliance of Amazon/AWS/Blue Origin on government contracts. I think that put the Post into a death spiral last year when so many (including me) cancelled their subscriptions after he made changes to the editorial department. I don't see how an independent news outlet survives when it is so closely tied to companies that rely on the government for so much of their income.

It seems there is a massive void to fill right now for a DC-area sports news and information outlet if there's an investor out there who could make it happen (i'm looking at you Ted!)

[nfotiu]

FWIW, the NYT is profitable and growing. Not to get into the political side, but Bezos has to walk a fine line with the Post given the reliance of Amazon/AWS/Blue Origin on government contracts. I think that put the Post into a death spiral last year when so many (including me) cancelled their subscriptions after he made changes to the editorial department. I don't see how an independent news outlet survives when it is so closely tied to companies that rely on the government for so much of their income.

It seems there is a massive void to fill right now for a DC-area sports news and information outlet if there's an investor out there who could make it happen (i'm looking at you Ted!)

Local news is dying everywhere.   It's hard to imagine that there will be anyone left printing newspapers in 5-10 years.   It doesn't seem that the local paywalled newspaper sites are a sustainable model.   My kid has been in the Richmond TD a number of times for golf, and not once has anyone ever said they saw him in there.  What's really the point of writing those articles if no one reads them?  The local network affiliates are probably not going to be around for many more years. 

I don't know how you'd launch something new that would get any traction and could actually afford a good staff of reporters.  It seems like social media has taken over coverage of local issues, and that's not a great thing.

The sports leagues are going to need to figure out a way to cover teams as the local outlets all disappear, or no one will care.

[imref]

add another: Joe Tone (sports investigative editor)

[imref]

TalkNats says they are still covering the Nats, and have people on-site at Palm Beach, but that the Nationals will not credential them so they have to pay their own way into the park (and pay for parking).

[imref]

Jake Russell survives.

[Slateman]

TalkNats says they are still covering the Nats, and have people on-site at Palm Beach, but that the Nationals will not credential them so they have to pay their own way into the park (and pay for parking).

Because TalkNats has no credibility.

[Natsinpwc]

Because TalkNats has no credibility.

All publicity is good.  Especially for the Nats.