- Shashi Tharoor questioned Washington Post's decision to lay off his son Ishaan Tharoor
- Ishaan Tharoor's 'WorldView' column had over 500,000 subscribers and a strong online presence
- Ishaan confirmed his layoff, expressing sadness for the newsroom and international staff
A perplexed Shashi Tharoor questioned The Washington Post over its decision to include his son Ishaan Tharoor - a highly-regarded international affairs analyst and writer with a sizeable online following - among the 300+ journalists and staffers sacked by this week by the struggling publication.
On X, Tharoor pointed out Ishaan's 'WorldView' column "flourished" and said the Post could have tried monetising that kind of reach, rather than this "perverse act of self-immolation".
"The bizarre thing about this so-called 'business decision' by The Washington Post is that Ishaan Tharoor's column flourished on the Internet... where he had 500,000 (half a million plus!) individual subscribers for his 'Worldview' newsletter," the Congress leader said.
"I've met foreign ministers, diplomats, and scholars who read him daily," Tharoor said.
The tweet followed historian Andre Pagli recognising Ishaan Tharoor as an expert in international affairs. "Nobody better - or even equal to - Ishaan in his domain... Saddened by the news but confident we'll get to read much more by him before long..." he said on X.
Late Wednesday night Ishaan Tharoor confirmed on X that he too had been sacked.
"I have been laid off today from The Washington Post," he began, "... with most of the International staff and so many other wonderful colleagues. I'm heartbroken for our newsroom and especially for the peerless journalists who served the Post internationally..."
Ishan Tharoor, Shashi Tharoor's son, was among those laid off by WaPo (File).
Tharoor recalled launching 'WorldView' in 2017 to help readers "better understand the world and America's place in it" and said, "I'm grateful for the half a million loyal subscribers..."
In another post, he shared what looked like a picture of the newsroom with a poster featuring the publication's slogan, 'Democracy Dies in Darkness' and the caption 'a bad day'.
READ | "Heartbroken": Ishan Tharoor On Being Laid Off By Washington Post
The WaPo layoffs have taken journalists and media houses by surprise and unleashed a flood of lamentations and criticisms. But it was left to former Executive Editor, Marty Baron, to deliver the most searing assessment of the crisis engulfing the globally recognised publication.
READ | Bloodbath At The Washington Post: Ishaan Tharoor Among 300 Axed
Baron said the layoffs represented "the darkest days in the history of one of the world's greatest news organisations", and questioned the fate of "ground-level, fact-based reporting".
Sources indicated the cuts disproportionately hit foreign bureaus, local reporting teams, and significant parts of the business division. Entire international reporting structures seemed to have been dismantled in a move with far-reaching consequences for global journalism.
NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.
