About Coronavirus 2020
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Washington Post employees should plan to continue working home throughout April, Publisher Fred Ryan told them in a memo to staffers Tuesday. The Post was one of the first DC-area media outlets to ask employees to get out of the office in response to the coronavirus crisis, and it announced Friday that one of its staffers in its New York bureau tested positive for Covid-19; that person’s last day in the office was March 10, when management made that ask. Since then, the Post has operated with a small a staff as possible in its Franklin Square HQ and issued guidelines to its journalists, encouraging them to do phone interviews whenever possible. Looks like they’ll be doing that kind of reporting for at least another five weeks.
Memo:
To All Washington Post Employees,
It’s been two weeks since The Washington Post moved to remote operations. I want to thank all of you for your ongoing hard work at such a difficult time. With kids home from school, isolation from your coworkers, concerns for your health and your family’s health, I know this has not been easy. And while the vast majority of us have been able to work from our homes, I want to especially thank those Post employees in our newsroom and at our production facility whose roles have required them to continue working from their primary work locations. We very much appreciate their exceptional commitment to serving our readers in this way.
As we near the end of the month, it is clear that we need to extend our plan to operate from our homes. For now, we are anticipating that we will continue working from home for the month of April. We will send additional updates should something change before then.
We are reminded by the tremendous number of people counting on The Washington Post at this crucial time that our work has never been more vital. People around the world have turned to The Washington Post for constant updates, insightful reporting and thoughtful perspective during this unprecedented time. And here in our region, subscribers have been able to continue counting on receiving their newspaper on time every day. The entire Post team should feel proud of the careers we have chosen and this remarkable institution where we work.
Fred.
Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. He was previously with the Poynter Institute, TBD.com, and Washington City Paper. He lives in Del Ray.
