The crisis Raw Story warned about is here. We must fill the void

This morning, The Washington Post ceased to exist as the paper of record we once knew.

In a move that can only be described as a gutting of a national institution, more than 300 journalists were shown the door. The sports section is gone. The books section is gone. The international bureaus—the eyes and ears that brought us news from the world’s most dangerous conflict zones—have been shuttered. The local news coverage has been decimated.

This is what happens when we entrust the guardianship of our democracy to billionaires.

Jeff Bezos, a man worth a quarter of a trillion dollars, did not have to do this. This wasn't a decision made by "market forces." It was a choice. It was a choice to prioritize other interests over the integrity of the free press.

Since 2023, we have watched publisher Will Lewis—a man with a controversial past in the British tabloid hacking scandals—systematically dismantle the paper’s credibility. From the pivot to appease political strongmen to the catastrophic "restructuring" we saw this morning, the pattern is clear: Corporate media is buckling under the pressure of authoritarianism.

They are retreating. We are not.

This is a moment we have been warning about. When the oligarchs decide that owning a news outlet is too risky or too expensive, they pull the plug. They leave the public in the dark.

Raw Story is different for one simple reason: We don't have a billionaire owner.

• We don't have a corporate board telling us to soften our coverage of the White House.
• We don't have a parent company worried about government contracts.
• We answer only to you, our readers.

The Washington Post is retreating, and independent journalism must fill the void. We are building the institutions that will take their place, but we cannot do it on our own. We need you to stand with us now.

If you have ever considered supporting independent news, this is the day to do it. Help us raise the democracy signal while others are going dark.

Donate to Raw Story

We cannot rely on the wealthy to save the news. We have to save it ourselves.

Thank you for being the backbone of this newsroom.

Adam Nichols

Editor-in-chief Raw Story