‘I’m heartbroken’: Ishan Tharoor laid off as Washington Post cuts one-third of newsroom

Ishan Tharoor, son of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and a senior international affairs columnist, has said he is “heartbroken” after being laid off by The Washington Post, as the US newspaper announced sweeping job cuts as part of a major newsroom restructuring.

Tharoor, who has been associated with the newspaper for nearly 12 years, was among those affected after the Jeff Bezos-owned publication decided to cut roughly one-third of its staff. The restructuring also included the closure of the sports desk and several international bureaus, marking one of the most extensive rounds of layoffs in the paper’s history.

‘An honour to work with them’

Confirming the development on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Tharoor shared an emotional message reflecting on his time at the Post and the colleagues he worked alongside.

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“I have been laid off today from the @washingtonpost, along with most of the International staff and so many other wonderful colleagues. I'm heartbroken for our newsroom and especially for the peerless journalists who served the Post internationally -- editors and correspondents who have been my friends and collaborators for almost 12 years. It's been an honour to work with them.”

WorldView and loyal readers

Tharoor also looked back on the launch of his widely read WorldView column in 2017, which he said was aimed at helping readers “better understand the world and America's place in it.”

“I'm grateful for the half a million loyal subscribers who tuned into the column several times a week over the years,” he added, thanking readers for their continued engagement.

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A sombre moment for the newsroom

In another post, Tharoor shared what appeared to be a photograph from inside the newsroom, featuring the paper’s long-standing slogan, “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” He captioned the image simply: “A bad day.” The post was later reshared by his father, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.

International coverage hit hard

According to details shared by staff and reports from within the organisation, the layoffs have disproportionately affected the Post’s foreign bureaus, local reporting teams, sports desk, and parts of its business division. Large sections of its international reporting structure are believed to have been dismantled.

The scale of the cuts signals a sharp contraction of the newspaper’s global footprint, with foreign correspondents, central to its international coverage, among those most impacted.