Politico co-founder says that liberal media is weaker than ever in interview

Semafor reported in January that "the Post's daily traffic last year reached a nadir of just a quarter of what it was at its peak in January 2021. That month, the Post had around 22.5 million daily active users. But by the middle of 2024, its daily users hovered around 2.5-3 million daily users." 

VandeHei said that the opportunity for liberal media to grow is "wide open," despite setbacks. 

"There's a lot to work with. You just got to change. You just got to stop worrying, thinking about how great it was, because it was great, and it never is going to be great again like that, right? But that doesn't mean it can't be good and that it can't be successful. It just means you're going to have to buckle up and be ready for extraordinary, high velocity change," he continued. 

"Anybody with that mentality, with good decision making can thrive. If you don't have that, you die," he added. "But that's true in any industry, any business."

CNN has painted the layoffs as a critical step toward securing the network's future, telling staffers that "irreversible shifts in the way audiences in America and around the world consume news" have impacted its business model. About 200 jobs were eliminated as a result. 

Fox News' Brian Flood and Gabriel Hays contributed to this report.