On February 22, Meta’s Communication head Andy Stone called out Washington Post for publishing a report with a misleading heading. In a series of tweets, Stone said that the story published by the Washington Post itself contradicted its headline, and the headline also differed from previous reporting by the same publication.
The @washingtonpost got this one wrong. With all due respect, @loriamontgomery, @cpassariello, @markseibel, @laurastevens, how do you run a story with a headline/storyline that is contradicted by the reporting in the very same story — as well as previous reporting? https://t.co/KnmspMFN5t
— Andy Stone (@andymstone) February 22, 2023
Following the tweets by Andy Stone, Washington Post edited the headline of the story later. Initially, the heading read, “Meta plans to cut thousands of jobs after CEO predicted no more layoffs”. The story was published at 10:10 AM local time.
At around 11 AM local time, Andy stone called out WaPo on Twitter, and at 11:36 AM local time, the title of the story was changed to “Meta could cut thousands of jobs, after CEO predicted no more layoffs”. Regarding the content, the story remained the same after the update, with minor corrections to the format.
In his tweets, Stone shared a statement issued by Mark Zuckerberg in November 2022, where he refused to rule out further job cuts at Meta. Replying to an employee on the possibility of further cuts, he had said that though the company did not have plans for additional layoffs in the following weeks, he could not “promise anything”. A total of 11,000 people were let go from the company, 13 per cent of the total workforce.
Mark Zuckerberg in November 2022:https://t.co/5vw9tIqgtw
— Andy Stone (@andymstone) February 22, 2023
Further, in January 2023, Washington Post quoted Zuckerberg saying, “We closed last year with some difficult layoffs and restructuring some teams. When we did this, I said clearly that this was the beginning of our focus on efficiency and not the end.” He was talking to the investors. Notably, WaPo also mentioned that earlier in January, Zuckerberg proclaimed that 2023 would be the year of efficiency and promised the investors he would trim the middle management. Furthermore, he promised the investors to speed up the company’s decision-making process and hinted at the possibility of more job cuts.
Despite this, the original headline of the report by the Washington Post claimed that Zuckerberg had predicted there there will no more job cuts in Meta.
Mark Zuckerberg in Jan 2023 (as quoted by WaPo):
— Andy Stone (@andymstone) February 22, 2023
But earlier this month, Zuckerberg proclaimed 2023 the “year of efficiency,” promising investors he would trim middle management and speed up the company’s decision-making, hinting at the possibility of more cuts.
Washington Post’s report discussed the possibility of job cuts though the tech giant has not confirmed it. Quoting an unnamed person “familiar” with what is happening inside Meta, WaPo claimed that the company plans to push some leaders to lower positions and flatten the management layers between Zuckerberg and company interns. Quoting the same person, WaPo claimed Meta is considering more traditional cuts that may spread across company divisions worldwide over months.
