A former national health reporter for the Washington Post has delivered a sharp response to online trolls after being caught up in a massive wave of redundancies at the famous newspaper. Sabrina Malhi was among hundreds of staff members let go on Wednesday as the Jeff Bezos-owned publication cut one-third of its workforce.
Ms Malhi, who specialised in stories about infant and maternal health, shared her heartbreak on the social media platform X. She told followers that losing her dream job while at home nursing her newborn baby was devastating.
However, her post was quickly targeted by racist commenters. Despite being a United States citizen who was born and raised in New York, she was told by one user to "go back to India." Ms Malhi, whose family is of Indo-Caribbean heritage from Guyana, did not hold back in her reply.
She told the troll that since she no longer had a job, she had plenty of time to respond, before clarifying that she was not from India and calling the user an imbecile.
The layoffs at the Washington Post have seen the closure of its sports section and several foreign offices. Executive editor Matt Murray described the cuts as painful but necessary to help the newspaper survive in a changing digital world.
