{"id":891676,"date":"2026-02-11T05:18:51","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T11:18:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/11\/washington-post-editor-defends-shuttering-papers-sports-desk\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T05:18:51","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T11:18:51","slug":"washington-post-editor-defends-shuttering-papers-sports-desk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/11\/washington-post-editor-defends-shuttering-papers-sports-desk\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington Post Editor Defends Shuttering Paper\u2019s Sports Desk"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Washington Post\u2019s executive editor Matt Murray defended the paper\u2019s decision to shutter its sports desk in its current form, pointing to the changing landscape within sports media. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have excellent sports reporting, and the very best sports coverage we\u2019ve done does break through,\u201d Murray told the New York Times<\/a>. \u201cGenerally The Post isn\u2019t seen digitally as a major sports destination. So we\u2019re kind of wrestling with some of those questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murray\u2019s comments on sports coverage marked his first since the Post laid off a third of the company<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Marty\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

A Post spokesperson said the cuts were \u201cdifficult\u201d\u00a0and said the steps were \u201cdesigned to strengthen our footing and sharpen our focus on delivering the distinctive journalism that sets The Post apart.\u201d <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

A Post spokesperson did not make Murray available for an interview with TheWrap. <\/p>\n

The paper\u2019s sports reporters lamented the company\u2019s decision in X posts on Wednesday as layoff notices began to trickle out.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, turns out this was my last story for The Washington Post, 2,011 bylines later,\u201d\u00a0wrote<\/a>\u00a0sports reporter Jesse Dougherty. \u201cFor nine years, it was a dream in every sense of the word, no matter how many of the company\u2019s leaders tried to make it otherwise. Thanks for being part of the ride.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was among those laid off by The Washington Post today,\u201d\u00a0high school sports reporter Emmett Siegel wrote<\/a> on X. \u201cIt was an honor and privilege working for the best sports department around. I\u2019ll always be incredibly grateful for everyone there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The end of the high school sports reporting team, its editor Michael Errigo wrote<\/a> in a statement, \u201cbrings 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Jeff\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Corbin Bolies
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Washington Post\u2019s executive editor Matt Murray defended the paper\u2019s decision to shutter its sports desk in its current form, pointing to the changing landscape within sports media. \u201cWe have excellent sports reporting, and the very best sports coverage we\u2019ve done does break through,\u201d Murray told the New York Times. \u201cGenerally The Post isn\u2019t seen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":891677,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32757,2859],"tags":[43196,6702],"class_list":{"0":"post-891676","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-editor","8":"category-washington","9":"tag-editor","10":"tag-washington"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/891676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=891676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/891676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/891677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=891676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=891676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=891676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}