Derek Hawkins

Justice and law enforcement reporter at @NOTUSreports. Previously @washingtonpost.
Signal: dhawk.01
Bluesky:

[Jake Tapper 🦅 @jaketapper]

In 2019, Bezos wrote, “My stewardship of the Post and my support of its mission, which will remain unswerving, is something I will be most proud of when I’m 90 and reviewing my life.”

Tina Brown on Bezos and the WP:

https://t.co/cb6f99zxCS

[Ed Thiede @thiedee]

@JohnKelly @murraymatt @washingtonpost Today’s A section is a mix of: Wire stories, promos and over-played photographs. This is not a good sign.

[Paul Farhi @farhip]

For the record: It’s been widely reported that the @washingtonpost laid off the equivalent of a third of its newsroom last week. Terrible enough, but this appears to understate what happened. 

More…

[Derek Thompson @DKThomp]

Everything Bezos has done wrt the Post in the last five years is consistent with a person who is barely paying attention and mostly sees the Post as a minor asset that shouldn’t threaten his major assets.

Take this hamfisted line below about how “data” should tell the Post how to succeed and what to cover. Sure, fine, knowing what readers want is commercially useful. But “data tells us what is valuable” is so simplistic.

Bezos is smarter than that. In the context of businesses he actually cares about, he knows the limits of data as a North Star, and he has a great line about the limits of data, in this screenshot. He just doesn’t (seem to) care about the newspaper business at all.

(Just sell it to some one who gives a damn!)

[Chelsea Janes @chelsea_janes]

Former Post sports journalist gets the picture that breaks the camel’s back. Long live the Post, may the comeback start immediately.

[Washington Post Guild @PostGuild]

Will Lewis’s exit is long overdue. His legacy will be the attempted destruction of a great American journalism institution. But it's not too late to save The Post. Jeff Bezos must immediately rescind these layoffs or sell the paper to someone willing to invest in its future.

[Derek Hawkins @D_Hawk]

Washington Post forever

[Ben Mullin @BenMullin]

“I’m glad Will Lewis has been fired. I wish it had happened before he fired all my friends.”
https://t.co/P6Ekeel0lM

[Michael Birnbaum @michaelbirnbaum]

So many were laid off this week from @washingtonpost, including internationally some of the hardest-working, bravest local journalists I know. Many of them now face difficult conditions in conflict zones. Please support them and their families. https://t.co/GxBYJAX7UJ

[Cathleen Decker @cathleendecker]

Cannot overestimate how much enmity Will Lewis brought on himself. Absolutely, justifiably gobsmacking. (And I worked for TRONC and its insanity)

[Barry Svrluga @barrysvrluga]

You failed, mate. You epically, monumentally failed, and showed yourself to be a coward in the process. Hope the Super Bowl is brilliant.

[Ben Pauker @benpauker]

Will Lewis is out.

[paul schwartzman @paulschwartzman]

The NYT’s portrait of @martyweilwapost

A 60-Year Arc at The Washington Post, From Watergate to the Weather https://t.co/guwD8XYRw0 via @NYTimes

[Anne Barnard @ABarnardNYC]

Yeah can’t have that

[Derek Hawkins @D_Hawk]

Dino has one of the best beats in the business. He is one of few national reporters who covers wildlife/conservation full time, and he does it with tremendous style, imagination and heart. His stories about angel sharks and ivory billed woodpeckers have made me misty-eyed.

[Dino Grandoni @dino_grandoni]

I was told today my Washington Post job is being eliminated

It's just a job, but it's one that I was proud to do for 8+ yrs alongside the best in the business

I'm here for opportunities to tell stories about the natural world and how we impact it

[email protected]

[Lori Rozsa @lori_rozsa]

My job covering Florida for the Washington Post was eliminated in today’s brutal and mass layoffs at the paper, along with hundreds of my amazing colleagues. For those who remain, Godspeed.
For me: if you’re looking for someone to cover news in the sunshine state, reach out!

[WashPost HS Sports @WashPostHS]

Thank you.

[Kim Bellware @bellwak]

I'm absolutely gutted with what's happening to The Post -- eliminating the Sports department, shrinking International, cutting our Post Reports pod.

I also can't overstate how jarring it is that the National Breaking News staff was reduced to only *2* reporters. T-W-O.

[Ben Mullin @BenMullin]

A staggering statement from former Washington Post editor Marty Baron: "This ranks among the darkest days in the history of one of the world's greatest news organizations."

[Peter Baker @peterbakernyt]

No struggling newspaper ever saved itself by becoming a worse and less essential product. But what's happening today at the @washingtonpost is not just the latest devastating contraction of the news industry; it's the gutting of an American institution vital for a healthy society