Washington Post Editor Defends Shuttering Paper’s Sports Desk

The Washington Post’s executive editor Matt Murray defended the paper’s decision to shutter its sports desk in its current form, pointing to the changing landscape within sports media.

“We have excellent sports reporting, and the very best sports coverage we’ve done does break through,” Murray told the New York Times. “Generally The Post isn’t seen digitally as a major sports destination. So we’re kind of wrestling with some of those questions.”

Murray’s comments on sports coverage marked his first since the Post laid off a third of the company on Wednesday, including hundreds of journalists in its newsroom. Management also eliminated the books section, restructured the metro desk and gutted its foreign desk. Some sports reporters will remain on the features desk, Murray told staff in a video call early Wednesday, and the paper would pivot to covering sports as a cultural phenomenon.

A Post spokesperson said the cuts were “difficult” and said the steps were “designed to strengthen our footing and sharpen our focus on delivering the distinctive journalism that sets The Post apart.”

Murray told the Times that the Post needed to reexamine where it fit within the changing sports media market, one dominated by video offerings and by sports teams that have taken control over their own narratives.

A Post spokesperson did not make Murray available for an interview with TheWrap.

The paper’s sports reporters lamented the company’s decision in X posts on Wednesday as layoff notices began to trickle out.

“Well, turns out this was my last story for The Washington Post, 2,011 bylines later,” wrote sports reporter Jesse Dougherty. “For nine years, it was a dream in every sense of the word, no matter how many of the company’s leaders tried to make it otherwise. Thanks for being part of the ride.”

“I was among those laid off by The Washington Post today,” high school sports reporter Emmett Siegel wrote on X. “It was an honor and privilege working for the best sports department around. I’ll always be incredibly grateful for everyone there.”

The end of the high school sports reporting team, its editor Michael Errigo wrote in a statement, “brings a sudden end to a long and proud tradition of journalism: The Post covered local high school sports for more than 100 years, chronicling countless players and teams across the D.C. area.”