‘Absolute Exodus’: Washington Post ‘Bleeds Talent’ As Experienced Staffers Take Buyout

The Washington Post is “bleeding talent,” with a number of longtime employees — from veteran opinion columnists to the obituary section chief — accepting buyout offers that the Jeff Bezos-owned outlet extended to staff in late May.

Early in July, Washington Post CEO Will Lewis sent an email to staffers suggesting that they might especially want to consider the buyouts if they “do not feel aligned with the company’s plan” to reinvent itself.

Among the changes explicitly mentioned by Lewis was a shift in the opinion section to “champion timeless American values” and to “reconnect” with the audience in a way that rekindled trust.

Will Lewis emails the Washington Post staff, encouraging those who “do not feel aligned” with the company’s future plans to consider the buyout offer. pic.twitter.com/b3a7w6HbuB

— Ben Mullin (@BenMullin) July 9, 2025

In the days since Lewis sent that email, several big names have announced their plans to depart The Washington Post — including political reporter Dan Balz, obituary section chief Adam Bernstein, reporter Philip Bump, as well as columnists David von Drehle, Catherine Rampell, and Jonathan Capehart. The Post’s original TikTok pioneer, Dave Jorgenson, legal reporter Ann Marimow, and sports writer Dan Steinberg also took the buyout.

Reporter Joe Davidson says he left after being told that one of his opinion columns was “too opinionated.”

“It’s just an absolute exodus,” one staffer told Politico of the buyouts, saying that no one was certain whether there was a plan in place to compensate for the vast amount of experience and expertise that was on its way out the door.

Watching the turmoil from the outside, Poynter News wondered: “How much longer can The Washington Post bleed talent?”

The turmoil at the Post — and, indeed, the high-profile exits — did not begin with the buyouts offered in May. Rather, the unrest within the organization dates back at least to the resignation of Executive Editor Sally Buzbee in June 2024. Buzbee left, according to several sources, because she was not on board with the new organizational structure Lewis planned to introduce.

A slew of resignations followed the outlet’s shock decision not to endorse former Vice President Kamala Harris. A statement from the Editorial Board read in part, “The Washington Post will not be making an endorsement of a presidential candidate in this election. Nor in any future presidential election. We are returning to our roots of not endorsing presidential candidates.”

In the months that followed, longtime columnist Jennifer Rubin left the outlet — followed by opinion editor David Shipley and columnist Ruth Marcus.

And while a number of those who left The Washington Post have started or plan to start their own independent ventures — Rubin and Jorgenson, for example — some have been snapped up by other major outlets, including The Athletic, The Atlantic, Reuters, and The New York Times.

The full impact of the buyouts, which reportedly targeted employees who had been with the outlet for 10 years or longer, remains to be seen. The offer is available to employees until the end of July.