Reality Hits Leftist Media: Shake-Ups and Layoffs Follow Decline
As we step into 2025, if the condition of legacy media were turned into a musical score, the perfect choice would undeniably be the classic theme from “Jaws.”
The journalistic waters are rife with turmoil, and just like the panicked beachgoers of Amity Island, viewers and readers are quickly retreating.
To illustrate this point, just this week, we witnessed MSNBC President Rashida Jones making her exit, while The Washington Post is cutting even more jobs from a team that’s diminished almost as swiftly as its subscriber count.
Leading up to the 2024 election, internal data reported by Semafor shows that the newspaper’s daily online traffic fluctuated between 2.5 million and 3 million users.
For context: In January 2021, The Washington Post had an impressive 22.5 million daily active users.
The outcome? Over a mere four years of intense and chaotic news cycles, it has lost between 85% and 90% of its audience, alongside experiencing back-to-back years of $100 million-plus losses.
In recent days, around 100 positions were eliminated, with notable reporters and columnists abandoning the publication in droves.
Owner Jeff Bezos seems aware of one significant factor driving this decline.
“The Washington Post and The New York Times earn accolades, but increasingly our conversations are limited to a select elite. More often, we are conversing only amongst ourselves,” he remarked.
However, staff members are directing their frustrations towards Bezos for the current predicament.
“We are deeply concerned by recent leadership choices that have caused readers to doubt the integrity of this institution, estranged from a tradition of transparency, and led to the departure of some of our most esteemed colleagues,” states a petition signed by 400 WaPo “journalists.”
This is absurd: If Bezos weren’t propping up the paper while it hemorrhaged hundreds of millions of dollars, many of these individuals would be unemployed.
One of those “esteemed colleagues” who quit this week was controversial columnist Jennifer Rubin, who boldly claimed after the presidential election that Trump and the Republicans “want to kill children.”
At MSNBC, which could easily be dubbed M-E-S-S-NBC, the outlook is equally dismal.
Ratings are on a seemingly unstoppable downward spiral.
For instance, just this past Monday, as Jones submitted her resignation after four years in charge, the network averaged a mere 631,000 viewers.
In the crucial 25-54 demographic, which drives ad revenues, viewership plummeted to just 53,000, according to Nielsen.
To provide context: 631,000 total viewers is significantly less than the population of El Paso, Texas (678,915). Meanwhile, 53,000 viewers in the demographic barely exceeds the seating capacity of Yankee Stadium (52,325).
This is a network available in over 80 million households.
So, what’s MSNBC’s game plan?
Indeed.
The channel is so entrenched in left-leaning rhetoric that it can’t even feature a single pro-Trump voice on its roster, doubling down on its most ardently partisan host.
Starting this week, Maddow will return to the grind of working five nights a week after scaling back to a weekly appearance in 2022.
Viewers can anticipate an abundance of anti-Trump sensationalism and ceaseless monologues from the 9 p.m. host, who is presently trailing behind Fox’s Sean Hannity.
Meanwhile, over at CNN, conservative Scott Jennings has become the only pundit drawing attention these days while on air.
Often, it’s Jennings, a former aide to George W. Bush, trading barbs against three or four highly emotional liberals in a panel discussion — a scenario he consistently emerges victorious from with his sharp humor and candid insights.
It would be wise for CNN to consider giving Jennings his own program.
The primetime lineup is in disarray, with the network struggling to attract an average of 300,000 viewers between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.
For further context: 300,000 viewers amounts to roughly 100,000 fewer than the entire population of Wichita, Kansas.
In contrast, Fox News commanded an impressive average of 2.4 million viewers during primetime in 2024, equating to eight times CNN’s current viewer base.
However, granting a conservative a dedicated show would likely face backlash from other CNN hosts.
Historically: CNN previously attempted to shift toward the center under former president Chris Licht in 2023, even hosting a town hall event featuring candidate Donald Trump.
The response was a revolt from the staff, resulting in Licht’s eventual departure.
The attempt to gravitate towards the center was futile, as, despite the inclination of some executives, CNN’s on-air talent remains disinterested in delivering objective journalism and analysis.
This encapsulates the issue: Just like in politics, substantial change won’t occur until there’s a shift in leadership.
California will continue its swift decline under a showman like Gavin Newsom, who offers plenty of flair but little substance.
The same goes for New York under Kathy Hochul.
As Trump prepares for his potential return to the White House, The Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, and much of the legacy media find themselves in the same predicament . . . a vessel that is swiftly sinking in shark-infested waters.
Joe Concha is a Fox News contributor and the author of the forthcoming book “The Greatest Comeback Ever: Inside Trump’s Big Beautiful Campaign.”
