WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Several hundred people rallied outside The Washington Post headquarters on Thursday to protest its decision to lay off hundreds of journalists, including most of its overseas staff.

“Democracy dies in darkness. And you, Jeff Bezos, have turned off the lights,” a sign at the demonstration read, referring to the newspaper’s front-page slogan and its billionaire owner, who has become close to US President Donald Trump during the Republican’s second term.

The sweeping cuts at the Post announced on Wednesday came as major traditional media outlets in the United States face intense pressure from Trump, who routinely denigrates journalists as “fake news” and has launched multiple lawsuits against media organisations.

READ: Washington Post announces ‘painful’ job cuts

“In a time where we’ve seen unprecedented attacks on the press, and anti- or negative sentiment toward journalists for just doing their jobs, it’s dangerous to cut staff this way,” said Michael Brice-Saddler, who covered the US capital for the Post and has now been laid off.

“These cuts are not the fault of our staff, yet they are the ones who bear the brunt of the cost. They lose resources, they lose the ability to tell stories that are meaningful to Washington,” Brice-Saddler said.

The Post did not disclose the number of jobs being eliminated, but The New York Times reported that approximately 300 of its 800 journalists were laid off.

Most of the paper’s journalists overseas were let go, including its entire Middle East roster and its Kyiv-based Ukraine correspondent, as the war with Russia grinds on.

Sports, graphics and local news departments were sharply scaled back, and the paper’s daily podcast, Post Reports, was suspended, local media reported.

Bezos reined in the newspaper’s liberal-leaning editorial page and blocked an endorsement of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris days before the 2024 election — breaking the so-called firewall of editorial independence. He was widely seen as bowing to Trump.

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that 250,000 digital subscribers left the Post after it refrained from endorsing Harris, and the paper lost around $100 million in 2024 as advertising and subscription revenues fell.

Marissa J Lang, an enterprise reporter who was fired by the Post, said the full effect of the layoffs remains to be seen.

“A lot of people have been asking me about the impact of these cuts, and I have very honestly been telling them, I don’t think we know yet,” Lang said.

“The impact of losing 300 journalists who hold power to account, who investigate corruption, who tell you about what’s happening in war zones overseas, and whether your kids’ schools will be open because it snowed, is immeasurable,” Lang said.