Shashi Tharoor Questions Washington Post Over Son Ishaan’s Layoff

Shashi Tharoor has publicly questioned The Washington Post’s decision to include his son, international affairs analyst Ishaan Tharoor, in the recent layoffs of over 300 staffers. On X, the Congress leader described the move as “bizarre” and criticised the publication for dismissing a columnist whose work had attracted a dedicated online following.

Ishaan Tharoor launched his WorldView column in 2017 with the aim of helping readers better understand global affairs and America’s role in the world. The column reportedly garnered over 500,000 subscribers, with readership including diplomats, scholars, and policymakers. Shashi Tharoor suggested that the Post could have explored monetizing Ishaan’s digital reach instead of making the “perverse” decision to cut him.

The layoffs have sparked widespread concern among media professionals and observers. Historian Andre Pagli described Ishaan as a leading voice in international reporting and expressed confidence that his work would continue elsewhere. Ishaan himself confirmed the layoff, sharing an emotional post reflecting on the newsroom and the colleagues affected by the cuts.

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Former Washington Post Executive Editor Marty Baron condemned the layoffs as marking “the darkest days in the history of one of the world’s greatest news organisations.” He warned that dismantling foreign bureaus and local reporting teams could severely impact ground-level, fact-based journalism, with long-term consequences for international reporting.

Sources indicate that the layoffs disproportionately affected the Post’s international staff, local reporting units, and key business divisions, leading to significant restructuring. The move has raised questions about the sustainability of major newsrooms and their commitment to global coverage in an era of financial pressures.

For Ishaan Tharoor, the layoff ends a six-year run of building WorldView as a highly respected column in international affairs. Both father and son have underscored the human and professional cost of these cuts, while the broader journalism community debates the future of in-depth, globally focused reporting at major publications.

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