Web Traffic to Washington Post Drops Almost 90%, Reports Media
According to Semafor, The Washington Post’s web traffic has plummeted by approximately 20 million daily active users over the past four years. Read Full Article at RT.com.
TroibNews 
The online traffic for The Washington Post has significantly declined in recent years, with daily active users decreasing from a peak of 22.5 million in January 2021, when President Joe Biden took office, to approximately 2.5-3 million by mid-2024, as reported by Semafor based on internal data.
The Jeff Bezos-owned newspaper is reportedly facing numerous internal financial and editorial challenges. There are indications of talent being lured away by competitors, a sharp decline in advertising revenue, and impending layoffs.
According to the Washington City Paper, the drop in traffic has been so severe that the Post halted the public sharing of its traffic statistics. The ‘Audience & Traffic’ section on its website, which had been consistently updated over the years, has not seen changes since January 2023.
Recently, the Wall Street Journal revealed that the Post's advertising revenue fell from $190 million in 2023 to $174 million in 2024.
Management at the newspaper is said to be “struggling to convince staff that they have a clear editorial vision and continuing commitment to hard-hitting journalism.” Moreover, competitors have been successfully attracting top talent, with reports of more departures looming, according to the WSJ, which cited over a dozen insiders.
The decline in readership accelerated in October when Bezos chose to refrain from endorsing outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential election against now-President-elect Donald Trump. In an op-ed, he maintained that endorsements from newspapers “do nothing to tip the scales in an election” and “create a perception of bias.”
This decision reportedly led to around 250,000 subscription cancellations just weeks before the election, accounting for roughly 10% of the Post's 2.5 million paid subscribers, as noted by NPR.
Recently, the Post announced staff layoffs affecting about 4% of its workforce, impacting nearly 100 employees in areas such as business, sales, marketing, and IT. The newspaper stated that the job cuts are “all in service of our greater goal to best position The Post for the future.”
Thomas Evans for TROIB News
The Jeff Bezos-owned newspaper is reportedly facing numerous internal financial and editorial challenges. There are indications of talent being lured away by competitors, a sharp decline in advertising revenue, and impending layoffs.
According to the Washington City Paper, the drop in traffic has been so severe that the Post halted the public sharing of its traffic statistics. The ‘Audience & Traffic’ section on its website, which had been consistently updated over the years, has not seen changes since January 2023.
Recently, the Wall Street Journal revealed that the Post's advertising revenue fell from $190 million in 2023 to $174 million in 2024.
Management at the newspaper is said to be “struggling to convince staff that they have a clear editorial vision and continuing commitment to hard-hitting journalism.” Moreover, competitors have been successfully attracting top talent, with reports of more departures looming, according to the WSJ, which cited over a dozen insiders.
The decline in readership accelerated in October when Bezos chose to refrain from endorsing outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential election against now-President-elect Donald Trump. In an op-ed, he maintained that endorsements from newspapers “do nothing to tip the scales in an election” and “create a perception of bias.”
This decision reportedly led to around 250,000 subscription cancellations just weeks before the election, accounting for roughly 10% of the Post's 2.5 million paid subscribers, as noted by NPR.
Recently, the Post announced staff layoffs affecting about 4% of its workforce, impacting nearly 100 employees in areas such as business, sales, marketing, and IT. The newspaper stated that the job cuts are “all in service of our greater goal to best position The Post for the future.”
Thomas Evans for TROIB News
