18 December 2020

WASHINGTON POST PLANS TO GROW NEWSROOM TO RECORD SIZE

The Washington Post plans to increase its newsroom in 2021 after setting digital subscription and online advertising records.

In a memo sent to staff on Thursday, publisher Fred Ryan revealed plans to take on 150 new employees in 2021 – “the most in a single year”.

The Post now has close to 3m paying online readers, up almost 50% in the year.

He revealed that, following a market-wide collapse of the advertising market in March, the last three months of 2020 “have brought the highest digital advertising revenue in Post history”.

“This superb performance by our revenue-generating teams validates our view that there is a successful business model for quality journalism,” he said. “I am pleased to report that The Washington Post will finish 2020, as it has for the past five years, as a profitable and growing company.”

Ryan added: “Looking to 2021, we have many reasons to be hopeful. With vaccines in the early stages of distribution, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Yet we must first make it through the darkest and roughest stretches to get there. As our readers look to us to keep them informed about the path back to normalcy, we must remain as diligent as ever.”