As a former newspaper reporter from 1999-2011, I know layoffs happen. I managed to leave on my own terms; however, some friends didn’t, and I watched them clean out their desks and leave the office.

So, when word broke that the Washington Post laid off 300 workers, many of them journalists, I, like many other decent people, felt compassion for them, whoever they are. They have families and bills like the rest of us.

What is a bit overwrought is this notion floating around journalistic circles that reporters should never be victims of the economic laws of reality. The newspaper, like many, bleeds money: $100 million last year alone.

But because WaPo owner Jeff Bezos is a billionaire, he should essentially keep subsidizing the newspaper because reporters are precious to democracy, or something.

“If Jeff Bezos is no longer willing to invest in the mission that has defined this paper for generations and serve the millions who depend on Post journalism, then The Post deserves a steward that will,” the Washington Post Guild, a union that represents Post employees, said on X.

I didn’t hear these same journalists lamenting Amazon (owned by Bezos) laying off 16,000 people last month. Bezos is a multi-billionaire and could probably subsidize the salaries and benefits for the 16,000 unfortunate folks. Did the Post run an editorial demanding that?

Also, did you know that the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is closing entirely in a few months? I didn’t until I heard someone on television say it in passing. I’m sure whoever owns the PPG is a millionaire. Maybe he/she should’ve just sucked up the losses and kept throwing money into a losing venture.

But that’s not realistic. Newspapers aren’t the US Post Office, which loses millions of dollars a year, into the billions, and is subsidized by the government. If the government had to operate by reality’s rules and not get to print money, the USPS would’ve been nixed long ago.

So, what makes newspapers so special? Public polling routinely shows that our trust in the media is at record lows. Trust me, 99.9% of the country will quickly recover from the WaPo no longer having a sports section. And unlike the PPG, the WaPo will continue to exist, at least for the foreseeable future. Hopefully, the paper will figure out how to turn a profit; otherwise, the future’s looking pretty bleak.