horrible, heartbreaking, idiotic, and avoidable. sending love to the WeMakeWAMU is a union team, who worked tirelessly for years under an exec suite that couldn't be bothered to even read their coverage, coverage that sustained the station and made our city better. fucked up beyond belief.

For fans and former employees you can access old versions of DCist in the Wayback Machine. This work will not be erased, the Internet is forever. You don't play with digital native journos! web.archive.org/web/2024022304…

Hi. I’m one of the DCist WAMU 88.5 reporters laid off. I’m deeply saddened to no longer cover the immigrant communities who make D.C. & our region so special. I’m beyond proud of the reporting I’ve done on air and our website since starting this beat from scratch 2 years ago ❤️

After years of working under current WAMU leadership, today’s decision deeply saddens and infuriates me, but it does not surprise me. It’s been clear for a long time now that executives at the station do not truly care about local news and deeply misunderstand digital journalism.

Thank you all for the kind messages. I’m going to take some time to figure out what’s next for me, but if you’re looking for a journalist — who speaks Spanish and can report and produce audio features — please keep me in mind for future freelance and hiring opportunities 💪🏽

it's almost like you'd want an excellent, nuanced reporter covering criminal justice in D.C. now more than ever. but hey, i'm no big-brained media exec so what do i know

WAMU saying it wants to focus on podcasts is so funny to me. I'm laughing like Ciara in that one video. I'm CHORTLING.

It's with a heavy heart that I have to share that my 13 years at WAMU and DCist as a web producer, audience editor and most recently growth editor came to an end today. More than a dozen dedicated, talented colleagues were let go as well.

The media industry faces real, incredibly difficult headwinds. But that's not the crux of this story. This is a case of atrocious leadership -- a truly extraordinary lack of knowledge, savvy, and strategy that can't be overstated and clearly isn't changing any time soon.

Explain to me any “pivot to audio” that includes laying off the most experienced and talented audio reporter on staff. Every decision is another indication that they have no idea what they are doing

WAMU is supposedly shuttering DCist to focus on audio, but among the talented employees getting the axe is the most experienced, accomplished audio journalist at the station. These decisions are senseless and the purported reasoning shows a lack of respect for us all

Because some of you asked, you can donate funds to impacted WeMakeWAMU is a union WAMU 88.5 DCist staff. Our major gifts officer is collecting donations on Venmo ✊🏾: @ Sarah-Cumbie

Still reeling at the enormous and unnecessary cruelty of completely erasing decades of D.C. history by wiping the entire DCist archive off the face of the internet. We should be able to access our clips and you (readers) should be able to look back on that historical record

A 1A listener pointed out how WAMU abruptly shuttering DCist is similar to what a private corp did in 2018, when WAMU stepped in to save DCist, knowing how crucial it is to our community. This 1A convo's the only place you'll hear details abt the layoffs on our air this morning.

It is imperative that Sylvia M. Burwell, Seth Grossman, Erika Pulley-Hayes, and Michael Tribble #UnlockDCist. It’s a matter of democracy. See our letter below. We encourage you to share:

During my time WAMU 88.5/DCist, I wrote (and produced FOR radio broadcast) nearly 200 stories. It was my honor to share the voices of people seldom heard on our airwaves. Folks from El Salvador, Afghanistan, Haiti, Vietnam, Ethiopia — and more — who now call the DC-region home.

Come for the panicking macaques, stay for the touching newfound friendship between two animal behavior scientists. So so great by kathryn fink npr.org/2024/04/25/124…

🚨If you think D.C. needs more local journalism, here’s an amazing chance to help create some! A group of former @dcist and WAMU 88.5 staffers are creating The 51st, a non-profit worker-led news outlet on all things D.C. And they need your financial help: givebutter.com/The51st

🧵 When DCist was shut down, we watched as so many of you mourned the loss of a vital local news source. A team of us got to thinking: What if we could create an outlet controlled by us (the journalists) and you (our community)? No executives involved.

You can learn more about our efforts, donate, and share at this link here. givebutter.com/The51st