By Adam Pagnucco.
News of massive layoffs at the Washington Post, which may affect about 30 percent of its workforce, is ricocheting around the Internet. The Metro desk, which has been targeted by cuts before, appears to be one of the hardest hit coverage areas. One of the laid off employees is the Post’s great education reporter, Nicole Asbury. Here is what she said on X earlier this morning.
Asbury was one of the two Post reporters who broke the news that MCPS had promoted Principal Joel Beidleman while he was under investigation for sexual harassment back in August 2023. This story, along with Asbury’s many other following reports, turned out to be one of the most impactful local stories in the history of MCPS. The resulting scandal led to the fall of Superintendent Monifa McKnight, the first dismissal of an MCPS superintendent in mid-contract since 1979, and eventually resulted in the hiring of Superintendent Thomas Taylor. Think about what we have since learned about McKnight’s tenure, especially the expensive collapse of the electric bus contract and MCPS’s failures on employee background checks. Also consider Taylor’s sweeping changes to MCPS, particularly with regards to school boundaries and academic programs.
Nicole Asbury and the Washington Post changed the history of MCPS, and therefore the history of Montgomery County.
Given the apparently colossal cuts to the Post’s Metro desk, that may never happen again.
Asbury deserves better. We deserve better. And while we are fortunate to still have dedicated news coverage from outlets like Bethesda Today and the Banner, this is a very dark day for local journalism.