Matt Szafranski
@mszafranski.bsky.social
Attorney; Editor-in-Chief, @WMassPI.com; #Spfldpoli when you need it; #MaPoli when you want it. "Retweets" ≠ Seal of Approval. Likes = ??? Fasten your seatbelt, please.
"You must go on. I can't go on. I'll go on." -Samuel Beckett
Always Eccles. 1:9
"You must go on. I can't go on. I'll go on." -Samuel Beckett
Always Eccles. 1:9
Unspent funds can be swept from the past fiscal years and used for the Truth and Justice Commission will prosecute all the 18 USC Sec. 242 violators.
Basically, the GOP thought that this would work just like normal government contracting. Provide budget, people will line up, the gears start turning. But if you prevent the gears from turning, it's a budget without a purpose. It just sits there and they can't use it.
February 4, 2026 at 6:09 PM
Unspent funds can be swept from the past fiscal years and used for the Truth and Justice Commission will prosecute all the 18 USC Sec. 242 violators.
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
Bezos: "We're gonna focus on markets and personal liberties."
WP: *Personal liberties itself into a free fall of subscribers leaving.*
Bezos: "This is the reporter's fault."
WP: *Personal liberties itself into a free fall of subscribers leaving.*
Bezos: "This is the reporter's fault."
February 4, 2026 at 4:41 PM
Bezos: "We're gonna focus on markets and personal liberties."
WP: *Personal liberties itself into a free fall of subscribers leaving.*
Bezos: "This is the reporter's fault."
WP: *Personal liberties itself into a free fall of subscribers leaving.*
Bezos: "This is the reporter's fault."
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
Moskowitz: "We need 'Apprentice' Trump. Where is that guy? Let me remind him what he used to be. 'You're fired, you're fired, you're all fired.' People loved it. You made millions firing people for a living. But now somebody convinced you firing people is weakness. That's why ratings are down."
February 4, 2026 at 5:42 PM
Moskowitz: "We need 'Apprentice' Trump. Where is that guy? Let me remind him what he used to be. 'You're fired, you're fired, you're all fired.' People loved it. You made millions firing people for a living. But now somebody convinced you firing people is weakness. That's why ratings are down."
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
As best I can tell, no one actually has jobs so much as they have competing spheres of influence that are affected by the whims of dementia orange grampa.
an underrated hilarious thing about Trump 2.0 is how everyone just does whatever they want regardless of what their jobs are actually supposed to be. Transpo Secretary Sean Duffy doing TV hits about ICE? Sure. Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler railing against Dems over wildfires? Why not!
February 4, 2026 at 4:45 PM
As best I can tell, no one actually has jobs so much as they have competing spheres of influence that are affected by the whims of dementia orange grampa.
[Insert rude but accurate comment here]
Kristi Noem: "Most of all we thank President Trump for the guts and the love of this country to do the right thing ... he told the American people we needed a wall, and we have a wall. A big beautiful wall that President Trump also wanted painted black so that it would endure."
February 4, 2026 at 5:44 PM
[Insert rude but accurate comment here]
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
really wild and heartbreaking to see the layoffs of so many amazing reporters at WaPo
February 4, 2026 at 5:39 PM
really wild and heartbreaking to see the layoffs of so many amazing reporters at WaPo
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
Meet Luke from Wilbraham, MA! A chemistry major at the College of the Holy Cross — Luke is interning at our Lawrence lab, helping analyze water, wastewater, air, soil, and other samples for environmental contaminants — and gaining hands-on experience. #internships
February 4, 2026 at 5:01 PM
Meet Luke from Wilbraham, MA! A chemistry major at the College of the Holy Cross — Luke is interning at our Lawrence lab, helping analyze water, wastewater, air, soil, and other samples for environmental contaminants — and gaining hands-on experience. #internships
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
Guys like Bezos think that because they made a lot of money doing one specific thing, that makes them brilliant at everything. And then when it turns out they don't know the first thing about, say, newspaper publishing, they get bored and task an underling with stripping the place for parts.
If the plan was just to put WaPo to work for Bezos's other business interests, I'm pretty sure they could have done that in a less shambolic fashion. So while Bezos's attempts to cozy up to the regime are for sure part of the problem, don't discount his hubris, myopia, and petulance.
February 4, 2026 at 4:52 PM
Guys like Bezos think that because they made a lot of money doing one specific thing, that makes them brilliant at everything. And then when it turns out they don't know the first thing about, say, newspaper publishing, they get bored and task an underling with stripping the place for parts.
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
Its both true that the media business, which is what the news fundamentally is, is a very difficult business to run and to be successful, but its also an industry where companies executives and managers have been ruined upon entry because they tried to give the public something they didn't want
February 4, 2026 at 5:02 PM
Its both true that the media business, which is what the news fundamentally is, is a very difficult business to run and to be successful, but its also an industry where companies executives and managers have been ruined upon entry because they tried to give the public something they didn't want
This. This. This.
If the plan was just to put WaPo to work for Bezos's other business interests, I'm pretty sure they could have done that in a less shambolic fashion. So while Bezos's attempts to cozy up to the regime are for sure part of the problem, don't discount his hubris, myopia, and petulance.
February 4, 2026 at 5:02 PM
This. This. This.
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
I just donated to a fund to help laid-off employees of The Washington Post. Here's the link: gofund.me/c7ca58b38
Donate to Washington Post 2026 layoff fund, organized by Rachel Siegel
On Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, The Washington Post laid off hundreds of journalists. We ar… Rachel Siegel needs your support for Washington Post 2026 layoff fund
gofund.me
February 4, 2026 at 4:50 PM
I just donated to a fund to help laid-off employees of The Washington Post. Here's the link: gofund.me/c7ca58b38
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
I expected the cuts would be bad but I'm honestly stunned and sickened seeing how many great journalists the Washington Post just lost. People who nailed huge investigations, documented war zones, exposed horrific crimes, dropped all at once for failures they did not cause.
February 4, 2026 at 4:29 PM
I expected the cuts would be bad but I'm honestly stunned and sickened seeing how many great journalists the Washington Post just lost. People who nailed huge investigations, documented war zones, exposed horrific crimes, dropped all at once for failures they did not cause.
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
NEWS: The cuts were so severe that at least one department head asked to leave The Post rather than be included in the planning.
Peter Finn, The Post's international editor, requested that he be laid off once he learned about the scope of the cuts to his section.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/b...
Peter Finn, The Post's international editor, requested that he be laid off once he learned about the scope of the cuts to his section.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/b...
Washington Post Begins Sweeping Layoffs
www.nytimes.com
February 4, 2026 at 3:11 PM
NEWS: The cuts were so severe that at least one department head asked to leave The Post rather than be included in the planning.
Peter Finn, The Post's international editor, requested that he be laid off once he learned about the scope of the cuts to his section.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/b...
Peter Finn, The Post's international editor, requested that he be laid off once he learned about the scope of the cuts to his section.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/b...
Da fuq?
"I want everyone to understand that gender ideology and free speech cannot coexist"
February 4, 2026 at 4:14 PM
Da fuq?
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
The possibility of Republicans triaging a Senate race in Texas (!!!) is astonishing. For all the stories about Dems having a few chippy primaries in some House districts, this would be a debacle of almost unprecedented proportions for the GOP.
February 4, 2026 at 3:48 PM
The possibility of Republicans triaging a Senate race in Texas (!!!) is astonishing. For all the stories about Dems having a few chippy primaries in some House districts, this would be a debacle of almost unprecedented proportions for the GOP.
I think the oligarchy part of it is key. Olgarchy doesn't want accountability. I don't think this is to appease Trump per se. It's to appease Bezos himself. Bezos doesn't want responsibility for this institution; for being bamboozled by Will Lewis; for anything.
Ofc the media is undergoing a business calamity. The WaPo lacked a good biz model.
Anyone saying that explains Jeff Bezos’s move today should be disqualified forever from expressing opinions.
This is abt billionaire power, oligarchy, Trump’s authoritarianism and the threat truth poses to those.
Anyone saying that explains Jeff Bezos’s move today should be disqualified forever from expressing opinions.
This is abt billionaire power, oligarchy, Trump’s authoritarianism and the threat truth poses to those.
February 4, 2026 at 3:50 PM
I think the oligarchy part of it is key. Olgarchy doesn't want accountability. I don't think this is to appease Trump per se. It's to appease Bezos himself. Bezos doesn't want responsibility for this institution; for being bamboozled by Will Lewis; for anything.
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
Among the many Washington Post staff that got laid off: the reporter who covered Amazon.
How convenient for Jeff Bezos.
How convenient for Jeff Bezos.
February 4, 2026 at 3:04 PM
Among the many Washington Post staff that got laid off: the reporter who covered Amazon.
How convenient for Jeff Bezos.
How convenient for Jeff Bezos.
Eh. I think vanity is way undersold as a reason.
Bezos isn't destroying the Washington Post because it isn't profitable. He's destroying the Washington Post because he's calculated that a robust free press threatens the ability of his class to warp society around their interests
February 4, 2026 at 3:35 PM
Eh. I think vanity is way undersold as a reason.
No more calls. ☎️
We have a winner. 🏆
Also, Will Lewis no doubt offered a Bezos a bunch of half-baked ideas that had no hope in hell of succeeding. Third newsroom anyone?
We have a winner. 🏆
Also, Will Lewis no doubt offered a Bezos a bunch of half-baked ideas that had no hope in hell of succeeding. Third newsroom anyone?
I don't buy the idea that Bezos is intentionally killing the Post. If he wanted to do that he could have just bought it and shut it down. Plenty of rich people have done that. The problem is he hired a Murdoch tabloid team to manage it and it's not a Murdoch tabloid and you can't run it like one.
February 4, 2026 at 3:27 PM
No more calls. ☎️
We have a winner. 🏆
Also, Will Lewis no doubt offered a Bezos a bunch of half-baked ideas that had no hope in hell of succeeding. Third newsroom anyone?
We have a winner. 🏆
Also, Will Lewis no doubt offered a Bezos a bunch of half-baked ideas that had no hope in hell of succeeding. Third newsroom anyone?
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
I don't buy the idea that Bezos is intentionally killing the Post. If he wanted to do that he could have just bought it and shut it down. Plenty of rich people have done that. The problem is he hired a Murdoch tabloid team to manage it and it's not a Murdoch tabloid and you can't run it like one.
February 4, 2026 at 3:10 PM
I don't buy the idea that Bezos is intentionally killing the Post. If he wanted to do that he could have just bought it and shut it down. Plenty of rich people have done that. The problem is he hired a Murdoch tabloid team to manage it and it's not a Murdoch tabloid and you can't run it like one.
This is the central problem the Post has and Bezos is too dumb or too proud to see Will Lewis hoodwinked him.
Also he hired total morons.
February 4, 2026 at 3:25 PM
This is the central problem the Post has and Bezos is too dumb or too proud to see Will Lewis hoodwinked him.
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
After spending most of last year buffeted by President Trump’s scrutiny, Harvard has started this year in a stronger position.
Trump Escalates Harvard Fight—but the University’s Position Has Strengthened
The Ivy League school rode into 2026 on the back of significant court victories.
on.wsj.com
February 4, 2026 at 3:17 PM
After spending most of last year buffeted by President Trump’s scrutiny, Harvard has started this year in a stronger position.
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
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."
February 4, 2026 at 2:34 PM
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."
Lololololololololololololololol
A Justice Department review found that Ed Martin improperly handled grand jury materials that were part of an investigation targeting Donald Trump's political enemies, at least two sources familiar with the review told CNN. https://cnn.it/4auafXQ
February 4, 2026 at 3:08 PM
Lololololololololololololololol