Last Updated:February 05, 2026, 20:44 IST The paper’s editors appear to have failed to look beyond their own ideological vanities and activism to recognise how dramatically the ground had shifted For years, large parts of Western journalism have confused activism with reporting. File pic/AFP The Washington Post, long regarded as a grandee of Western liberalism, is teetering on the precipice of irrelevance. Its proprietor, billionaire Jeff Bezos, has effectively called time on the paper’s haughty certitude by cutting back funds needed to run the broadsheet, forcing job cuts estimated at close to 30 per cent. Hundreds of positions have evaporated, leaving editors and reporters contemplating a moribund future. More than one retrenched journalist has described the layoffs as the “death of democracy”. One insider reportedly characterised the newsroom atmosphere as “funereal”. Bezos is being blamed for sacrificing the “pursuit of truth” at the altar of political patronage. That explanation is convenient but incomplete. The more uncomfortable reality is that WaPo’s journalism was rejected by the market. If this were merely a question of money, Bezos …