February 10, 2026
Last week, The Washington Post laid off one-third of its entire workforce—more than 300 people. Former Executive Editor Marty Baron called it “among the darkest days in the history of one of the world’s greatest news organizations.” The layoffs come amid economic pressures facing journalism and the continual push for AI-generated content. Yet the man who owns the Post, Jeff Bezos, has a personal wealth estimated at $261 billion. Days before the layoffs, Bezos hosted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at his Blue Origin rocket company.
The Post isn’t the only accountability institution under strain. The past month has brought FBI raids on election offices, escalating federal enforcement operations, and mounting pressure on civil society organizations. As Zane McNeill wrote for NPQ, “As the fourth estate, a free press is a critical check on power.” When multiple such institutions face pressure simultaneously—newsrooms, nonprofits, voting infrastructure, the right to protest—the cumulative effect on the functioning and practice of democracy becomes severe.
This raises urgent questions for nonprofit leaders: How do we defend democracy when the institutions meant to protect it face mounting challenges? How do we practice democracy internally when our own structures often replicate the hierarchies we’re trying to dismantle?
In this week’s Nonprofit Leadership newsletter, we look at democracy on various scales—from philanthropy’s responsibility to defend the right to dissent to the hyperlocal politics of homeowners associations.
In solidarity,
Coty Poynter
Senior Editor
Newsletters
