The Washington Post is set to expand its workforce by hiring more than five dozen journalists, underlining its profitability and growth. This announcement follows a year of significant success for the newspaper, with a substantial increase in digital subscriptions and a surge in online traffic. The Post’s digital audience has grown to over 100 million unique visitors per month, a figure that has doubled over the last three years.
The new hires will bolster the newspaper’s investigative reporting, political analysis, and video journalism departments. The Post’s owner, Jeff Bezos, has prioritised investment in these areas since acquiring the newspaper in 2013. This successful strategy has resulted in a 75% increase in online subscriptions in 2016 alone.
The decision to expand the workforce is part of a broader strategy to compete with other major news outlets. The Post is planning to open bureaus in Rome and Hong Kong, and to add more reporters in New York. The newspaper’s profitability and growth are a stark contrast to the overall industry trend, which has seen many traditional newspapers struggle with declining print sales and advertising revenue.
Go to source article: http://www.politico.com/media/story/2016/12/the-profitable-washington-post-adding-more-than-five-dozen-journalists-004900