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The Snows of Kalorama

It had all the trappings of a turning point for 'The Washington Post,' with dozens of executives, editors, and reporters summoned to Jeff Bezos’s local manse for an unhurried, candid, even conciliatory discussion about what’s gone wrong with the paper since the centibillionaire bought it in 2013. But what attendees say they didn’t discuss is how to save it.

Jeff Bezos
In regard to the recent layoffs, Bezos said he hadn’t dictated the targets of the cuts, but simply asked Matt Murray to “follow the data.” He reiterated here that the Post would always be responsive to the data: If a coverage area or newsroom initiative wasn’t working, why continue it? Photo: Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images for America Business Forum
Dylan Byers
March 13, 2026

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On Thursday, Jeff Bezos opened the doors of his stately Kalorama mansion to more than 30 Washington Post executives, editorial leaders, and journalists for a four-hour summit on the state of the paper—a rare chance to access not just the owner himself, but financial data and editorial strategy not typically divulged to the scribblers on the newsroom floor. Given the Post’s recent seismic misfortunes and indignities, and Bezos’s limited bandwidth, the meeting was near universally interpreted by the journalists present and their colleagues back on K Street as a bellwether for the paper’s future.