{"id":2564595,"date":"2026-02-05T13:33:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T18:33:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/far-left-journalist-blames-conservatives-after-wapo-layoffs-apparently-we-should-fund-our-own-smear-campaign-3\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T13:35:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T18:35:24","slug":"far-left-journalist-blames-conservatives-after-wapo-layoffs-apparently-we-should-fund-our-own-smear-campaign-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/far-left-journalist-blames-conservatives-after-wapo-layoffs-apparently-we-should-fund-our-own-smear-campaign-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Far-Left &#8216;Journalist&#8217; Blames Conservatives After WaPo Layoffs \u2013 Apparently We Should Fund Our Own Smear Campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffar-left-journalist-blames-conservatives-after-wapo-layoffs-apparently-we-should-fund-our-own-smear-campaign-3%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2564595&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The piece centers on The Washington Post\u2019s recent layoffs and the newspaper industry\u2019s broader decline, arguing that the crisis stems from shifts in audience and business models rather than a lack of demand for hard news. It notes the Post publicly acknowledged a drop in search traffic, slower daily output, and a focus on a narrow slice of readers. The author pushes back against the claim that there is no market for hard news among conservatives, arguing that conservatives have always valued solid reporting and that legacy outlets\u2019 bias and contempt for their audience helped drive readers toward alternative media. The narrative traces how readers migrated online\u2014via social platforms, YouTube, and other outlets\u2014while traditional papers struggled to monetize, ultimately concluding that the problem is not the audience but outdated practices and a narrowed editorial approach. The piece also discusses a prominent conservative critique by Alex Kirshner and contends that,contrary to claims of a nonexistent market,conservatives demand trustworthy reporting and have found it in non-legacy media; it emphasizes the need for responsible journalism and cautions against conflating bias with reality.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_2)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>When The Washington Post announced sweeping layoffs this week, those in charge at the dying legacy outlet briefly flirted with some honesty.<\/p>\n<p>The paper <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/late-breaking-bloodbath-washington-post-hundreds-fired-entire-divisions-shuttered-sports-desk-gone\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">acknowledged<\/a> that its search traffic has been cut in half over a three-year period. Daily story output had also dropped. The brass even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cwyn05d1494o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">admitted<\/a> that much of the garbage being put out was &ldquo;for one slice of the audience,&rdquo; as the BBC reported.<\/p>\n<p>That should have been the end of the conversation.<\/p>\n<p>But for so many people on the left, self-reflection is impossible.<\/p>\n<p>Alex Kirshner, a contributing writer for the leftist outlet <a href=\"https:\/\/slate.com\/author\/alex-kirshner\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Slate<\/a>, responded to a post on these facts by Max Tani of Semafor with an absurd claim.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There is not a serious market for &lsquo;hard news&rsquo; for conservatives,&rdquo; Kirshner wrote on X.<\/p>\n<p>He added that editors know this, but would rather &ldquo;scold their own employees for not doing an impossible job.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">There is not a serious market for &#8220;hard news&#8221; for conservatives. Murray knows this. Every editor at every major news publication in the country knows this. They just don&#8217;t want to say why and would prefer to scold their own employees for not doing an impossible job <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/bnmPFmbMJU\">https:\/\/t.co\/bnmPFmbMJU<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Alex Kirshner (@alex_kirshner) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/alex_kirshner\/status\/2019079924426895791?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>That statement is beyond detached from reality.<\/p>\n<p>There absolutely is a market for hard news among conservatives. There always has been. If you&rsquo;re reading this now, that&rsquo;s why.<\/p>\n<p>What there is not a market for is paying to be lied to, sneered at, and treated like an enemy.<\/p>\n<p>For most of America&rsquo;s history, newspapers were edited for Americans. Plural. They landed on doorsteps and job sites. In the last century, many people read more than one paper a day.<\/p>\n<p>They might have argued about opinions, but people more or less trusted the facts.<\/p>\n<p>My own father, a blue-collar conservative, read multiple newspapers while working. I read them, too. Local and national.<\/p>\n<p>I bought my last physical newspaper somewhere around 2007.<\/p>\n<p>There was a moment when it hit me that I was reading things written by people who hated me, and that I was funding it.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, better reporting was already migrating online.<\/p>\n<p>The broader shift was not by accident. Newspapers became stale and rabidly ideological. The bias stopped hiding. Reporting during the Obama years shattered what little trust remained for millions of Americans.<\/p>\n<p>That is when conservative media exploded.<\/p>\n<p>Not because conservatives rejected journalism, but because legacy outlets like The Washington Post rejected their audience. If they had done their jobs, people like me would not have ours.<\/p>\n<p>Conservatives did not wake up one day itching for alternative media. We were pushed there after growing tired of being the target of a daily, coordinated assault on our values, our families, our faith, and our country.<\/p>\n<p>So we tuned out, changed the dial, and stopped paying for the war on us.<\/p>\n<p>Now, <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >entire media ecosystems exist<\/a> that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/far-left-journalist-blames-conservatives-after-wapo-layoffs-apparently-we-should-fund-our-own-smear-campaign-2\/\" title=\"Far-Left &#039;Journalist&#039; Blames ... After WaPo Layoffs \u2013 Apparently We Should Fund Our Own Smear Campaign\">make bloated newspaper staffs unnecessary<\/a>. We can watch news unfold in real time on X. We can follow reporters directly on YouTube or Rumble.<\/p>\n<p>We can choose writers who respect the truth and us.<\/p>\n<p>Talk radio is no longer the last refuge. The monopoly the left had on information systems was taken without a single piece of legislation. The market spoke.<\/p>\n<p>Without a business model that forces their product into American homes, newspapers like The Washington Post are failing. And now we are told that the failure is our fault.<\/p>\n<p>Some have even blamed Jeff Bezos for refusing to endlessly subsidize the decline. In reality, he looks like a parent who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/far-left-journalist-blames-conservatives-after-wapo-layoffs-apparently-we-should-fund-our-own-smear-campaign\/\" title=\"Far-Left &#039;Journalist&#039; Blames ... After WaPo Layoffs \u2013 Apparently We Should Fund Our Own Smear Campaign\">finally stopped enabling adult children<\/a> who refuse to change.<\/p>\n<p>Reality is crashing down on legacy media.<\/p>\n<p>A company that writes for a narrow audience, admits it has tunnel vision, and routinely misleads readers is no longer profitable? How is that my problem or my concern?<\/p>\n<p>Conservatives did not ask to become villains in the national media&rsquo;s story, and we are not obligated to bankroll our own smear campaign.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here is a concise paraphrase of the excerpt you provided:<\/p>\n<p>The Washington Post announced widespread layoffs and, in response, acknowledged that its online traffic has fallen roughly in half over three years, while the amount of daily reporting has decreased. The leadership even conceded that much of the content was aimed at a narrow audience. Despite this candor, many on the political left resisted self-reflection. For example, Alex Kirshner of Slate argued that there isn\u2019t a substantial market for conservative \u201chard news,\u201d blaming editors for blaming employees instead.<\/p>\n<p>The author pushes back, insisting there is clearly a demand for hard news among conservatives and that people are tired of being lied to, sneered at, or treated as enemies. They recount a past era when newspapers served a broad American audience, with readers who trusted the facts even if they disagreed on opinions. The shift to online reporting began as newspapers grew stale and openly biased; trust deteriorated during the Obama years, helping spur the rise of conservative and alternative media. This shift didn\u2019t come from conservatives abandoning journalism but from legacy outlets targeting a narrower audience.<\/p>\n<p>Today, real-time updates on social platforms and direct engagement with reporters have reduced the need for bloated newsroom staffs. Market forces, not legislation, frayed a left-leaning monopoly on information. The author argues that the failure of papers like The Washington Post stems from a business model that serves a limited audience and misinformation, not from conservatives funding a smear campaign. They contend conservatives were not seeking to become villains or to fund partisan attacks, and that legacy media\u2019s decline reflects structural changes in how people consume news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2564596,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WashPo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[4539,5157,7970,56439,5894],"class_list":["post-2564595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-conservatives","tag-journalism","tag-layoffs","tag-media-bias-2","tag-politics"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WashPo.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2564595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2564595"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2564595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2564600,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2564595\/revisions\/2564600"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2564596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2564595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2564595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2564595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}