The Grill Room Matt Murray on the Washington Post’s Mass Layoffs
8 snips
Feb 6, 2026 
Matt Murray, executive editor of The Washington Post who led newsroom strategy during major restructuring, discusses the recent mass layoffs and the scale of newsroom cuts. He explains the shift from a ‘third newsroom’ idea to reinventing the core newsroom. Conversation covers new editorial priorities, data-driven changes, leadership decisions, and how success will be measured going forward.
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How The Third Newsroom Idea Changed
- Murray recounts being hired to lead the main newsroom and initially plan a third newsroom.
- He says the third-newsroom idea was never fully baked and evolved into reinventing the core newsroom.
Print Habits Held Digital Back
- Murray says investigative strengths remain but the company's print-rooted habits hindered digital agility.
- He points to late-night publishing and weak use of data as structural problems.
Remembering The Wall Street Journal Shift
- Murray recalls the Wall Street Journal's troubled era under Rupert Murdoch as context for survival.
- He uses that experience to argue brands can rebound after dramatic change.
