Media

Washington Post to add more than 60 journalists in 2017

by Joe Concha - 12/27/16 1:35 PM ET

The Washington Post plans on adding more than 60 journalists to its organization in 2017.

“We’re adding dozens of journalists,” Post publisher and CEO Fred Ryan told Politico in a piece published Tuesday.

“We looked at what succeeded for us in 2016 and made investments there. We’re still rolling this out internally,” Ryan, a former top aide to President Ronald Reagan, added.

The decision to expand is a rarity in the world of print journalism as many newspaper continue to downsize.

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In November, The Wall Street Journal began to combine sections while reducing the overall size of its print edition as the paper faces advertising declines.

“All newspapers face structural challenges and we must move to create a print edition that can stand on a sound financial footing for the foreseeable future while our digital horizons continue to expand,” Journal editor Gerard Baker told staff members in an Oct. 30 email.

Earlier this year, The New York Times began offering voluntary buyout packages to an undisclosed number of members of the newsroom and several business departments.

“Wherever we can reduce costs without damaging the values, and value, of Times journalism, we will do so,” executive editor Dean Baquet said in a May memo to staff.

Ryan said the Post also plans on making investments in mobile video and increasing its team of investigative and breaking news journalists as President-elect Donald Trump’s administration takes office.

The Post’s website broke its monthly traffic record with 99.6 million visitors in October 2016, according to comScore, a global media measurement and analytics company.

The substantial growth resulted in a 49 percent increase year-over-year from 2015.

Total page views were up 55 percent, which also set a new record for the 139-year-old paper.

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