Washington Post will not send a contingent to the Winter Olympics in Italy

The Washington Post notified more than a dozen journalists that it will not send a contingent to cover the Winter Olympics in Italy, according to an email from managing editor Kimi Yoshino reviewed by The New York Times. Ms. Yoshino wrote, “As we assess our priorities for 2026, we have decided not to send a contingent to the Winter Olympics,” and told staff to reach out if they wanted to talk further.

The message came about two weeks before the Games are set to kick off in Italy in early February; two people familiar with staff plans said many had already paid for travel arrangements. A spokeswoman for The Washington Post had no comment, according to the report. The decision departs from years of precedent: The Post has expanded its international presence since being purchased by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, but the paper has been retrenching in recent years as losses have accumulated.

In 2023, The Post offered buyouts that eliminated 240 jobs amid losses of $100 million and overly rosy projections for subscriptions and advertising revenue, and it offered another round of buyouts last year that were accepted by many marquee journalists. Historically the paper typically sent about 10 to 20 newsroom employees to the Olympics and devoted more resources to the summer Games; it sent 26 journalists to Paris in 2024 and had secured 14 credentials for the Milano Cortina Games, a Post employee said.

Key Topics

Business, Kimi Yoshino, Winter Olympics, Milano Cortina, Jeff Bezos, Buyouts