After The Washington Post was hit with layoffs cutting a third of its staff, its international reporters are faced with finding away home, some stranded in war zones.
Following Wednesday’s restructuring at the Jeff Bezos-owned company, Tokyo/Seoul bureau chief Michelle Ye Hee Lee launched a GoFundMe campaign in attempt to help the “dozens of international employees who were essential to our coverage of global events” in getting home safely.
“These workers are not eligible for protection under the Washington Post Guild and are, in many instances, being laid off with less favorable terms while also facing immense logistical challenges and, in certain cases, serious security risks,” the crowdfunding page reads. “Please help us support this deeply courageous team of people.”
Operated by Lee, Rebecca Tan and other Washington Post reporters, all of the campaign’s proceeds will “help cover rent, legal guidance, relocation to a new or safer country, storage for belongings left behind, and other urgent transition needs.”
Lizzie Johnson, a correspondent covering Ukraine, was one such person impacted by this week’s layoffs. “I was just laid off by The Washington Post in the middle of a warzone. I have no words. I’m devastated,” she wrote on X from Kyiv.
Investigative reporter Shibani Mahtani wrote, “I’ve been laid off from the Post today, along with too many of my incredible colleagues, after eight incredible years, most of them in Hong Kong and covering China’s expansion, a story that will define our generation.”
Claire Parker, the Cairo bureau chief, also shared the GoFundMe. “Overwhelmed and grateful for the many messages of support I’ve received in the past 24 hours. I am lucky to be on a US union contract with good protections, but many of my international colleagues are not. The company is retaining some as contractors for now but we don’t know for how long. If you’d like to donate to support them, some folks still with the paper have organized this fundraising drive,” she wrote.
Following a #SaveThePost social campaign, The Washington Post initiated a restructuring on Wednesday, cutting more than 300 jobs across its sports, books, metro and international sections, as well as shutting down the Post Reports podcast.
The Washington Post Guild said in a statement that the layoffs “are not inevitable. A newsroom cannot be hallowed out without consequences for its credibility, its reach and its future.” The guild also set up a GoFundMe page for laid off employees.
