Like any other laid off or terminated employee who has to worry about putting food on the table, keeping a roof over the family’s heads, medical expenses, utilities…& the indignity of losing their jobs for bullshit reasons (poor performance).
Are you a journalist increasingly concerned that being bad at your job and crowdsourcing legwork to Reddit because you saw one woman have success a couple weeks ago is going to get you punched in the face? I’d love to talk.
Every single one of those yuppy morons they employ grew up watching movies like All The Presidents Men and saw journalism not as a way to keep powerful people accountable, but as an avenue for fame
And so they can't even hold themselves accountable, not as thought leaders or truth tellers, it's all some cruel joke they're playing
They no longer care to punch up, but instead to look down, while they treat their day jobs as a cool social club we're not allowed to join or criticize
"I was laid off from my federal job because of DOGE cuts. Now I have no money, cannot pay rent or buy food. But I still support the president and would vote for him again, because he promised he would lower the price of eggs. Which I can no longer buy, anyway."
Nsh, we need these people to share their stories. We need more of this.
All of the people being laid off need to start being public about what they did and how society benefitted from it. Explain why your professional experience is valuable. Let America know what we're losing.
The NYT was thrown off its game when they chose to back Zionists over human rights. They are still one of the few outlets holding Trump accountable but doing so tepidly. The chipper tone of this inquiry says it all: they are unable to communicate how dire/catastrophic the present circumstances are.
Hey Mr. Yan we are interviewing people who work for press outlets that have abdicated their constitutional protections. Care to comment on what all that means for you and your family?
The problem with journalism is that THEY ALL have rich parents. The industry expects people to work for free for the first couple of years before giving anyone a paid gig. The only way to do that is if you have rich parents subsidizing your life, excluding working class people from the industry.
Yes, and that’s the problem with most media careers, particularly in major cities such as DC, New York, LA, etc. Elite/connected kids get bankrolled their first few years, then they’re promoted super fast. They take it ‘til they make it, if you will. Rare are they who actually independently succeed.
OMG... insensitive much?! Why not just say, I could care less about you... too bad so sad you got fired... but I need to write a great story, call me...ok?!😳
He needs you to write a great story about the suffering civil service for his JOB. That he still has and gets PAID to do. Unlike any of them. What a dick.
JFC! Focus on the larger story and bigger picture here. The public should be educated on what happens to the economy when there are massive defaults on mortgages and loans. This is just one domino but there are others that have been put in motion that will have far reaching impact.
The criticism isn't the topic, it's the arrogant, tone deaf wording. It would have been just as easy to say "I'm Matt Yan, a reporter for NYT. I'm writing an article to spread awareness of the damage layoffs have caused for gov workers. If you're willing to share your story, please reach out."
Lmao yeah it’ll be a real story and not full of whitewashed responses sso that it’s just another Trump fellating puff piece to appease his Nazi editors at his Nazi paper.
Everybody start sending your rent payments and mortgage payments to the white house, Every one who has been laid off for no good reason other than they are worthless working class in the eyes of the rich. Come on send car payments due, insurance payments send now!
Journos can be dumb fucks sometimes. Sorry but I wouldn't be speaking to the person. It's not going to help me unless you gonna give me cash for my rent or mortgage if I was in those folks position ls. But then your gonna have people going why didn't you save?
To many are working just to live. It shouldn't be like that. People should be able to have a place to live feed themselves and be able to enjoy life not have to worry about having money for food, rent, heating etc
So no one but a Trump/Musk regime ideologue would now want to become a federal employee. What is the opposite of DEI? Not recruiting the best and the brightest. Won't all federal employees now be viewed as ideologue hires, not on skill or merit but on political correctness with fealty to one man?
If I were a real-estate journalist based in DC, I would hope to have a network of realtors to talk to who could introduce me clients suffering the immediate effects of these layoffs.
Just about everyone who is laid off worries about making rent or mortgage. This just comes across as lazy.
Due diligence is often requires quotes and getting answers to obvious questions. This is probably not the first step in the research. Just because something is obvious good reporting would require verification.
You people are fucking out of your mind defending this shit. The times has done nothing to garner trust that this won’t be some Trump dick sucking like most of their shit. And you don’t need to ask obvious questions when it’s “Will being fired make it hard to pay for shit”
You may be right about where the Times is headed. You are obviously wrong about the need to verify even obvious assumptions to report on them beyond opinion pieces. I’m no teacher so maybe someone else can explain it to you.
I just listened to a piece on npr interviewing fired supposed provisional workers at Ed Dept. They were NOT provisional, but immediately cut off from responding. They sent proof to the person who fired them. They had not heard back as if 3:30 today heard anything. I am ashamed of this country.
Elon Musk was saying that so many of these government workers are incredibly wealthy and just putting in 40 to 60 hours of federal employee work for the heck of it.
Headline: Laid Off Workers Worried About Paying Rent and Mortgage
The huge number of layoffs have the laid off workers worried about paying their rent and mortgage. Says one employee, "I am worried about paying my rent and mortgage now!" One thing is clear, there are many of laid off workers who ar
"Patrick, I've got a story for you - what are those things that poor people have again?"
"Er, smallpox? Children?"
"Mortgages. Find out if the sacked federal workers have one."
"I'll call the boys at KPMG. See how many defaults they're predicting."
"Mmm... I'd go for the personal angle on this one."
Tis amazing that so many media pieces about money are by people who have plenty of it and see a layoff as an interesting personal (and temporary) challenge.
Someone on here once said elite journalists don't really want to do journalism, but they're people who want to write the Great American Novel in an age when literary culture is no longer prominent. So we get stuff like this.
This is like going to the house of someone just hearing their son, daughter, mom or dad was murdered and asking, "Tell us how you're feeling right now." SMH
Honestly, I’m getting tired of the “journalists” asking us feds to talk to them. If you want us, come to a protest. Many of us are out there. Come out folks, meet us. Even the retirees can tell you what it’s like to be a Fed and why we do it.
This, they’re not lay offs they’re mask purging people for project 25 that msm said wasn’t his. How about you report about all the plans project 25 has? The quicker we can have them impeached. @nytimes.com @ericlipton.nytimes.com @washingtonpost.com Tell us how they want to turn us into biodiesel.
They’ve been on the government gravy train for years living the good life off your taxpayer dollars, while you can’t even afford eggs. They’ll be fine.
Come on now, journalists can’t just make assumptions and print them even if seemingly obvious. He is just looking to verify with sources. Is actual good journalism even if it seems unnecessary to you.
Go to @skyeperryman.bsky.social As head of Democracy Forward, she has many lawyers to assist government employees. 202-448-9090 [email protected] Please repost as often as possible. Get the word out. You have been illegally fired. You can sue. Bring your case to Democracy Forward ASAP.
Reddit has been a breathe of fresh air recently. Maybe its the other platforms that have turned to shit but I have always shit on Reddit (and I'm a heavy user)
‘Several laid off workers expressed a range of reactions, from, “No doy, dork-ass” to, “you fuggin’ kidding me with this??”. One respondent went so far as to shove this reporter in a locker.’
Some day we’ll get an NYT headline such as “Military guns down scores of unarmed, peaceful protesters. Critics are raising concerns. But Republicans say they had it coming.”
I was responding to a critique of reporting practices.
If you’re more interested in flaying a 23-year-old for accepting a prestigious fellowship at a legacy media institution that is deeply flawed and politically compromised (as all the big ones are), fine. But that’s a dffierent topic.
Hi, I'm a NY Times reporter and I would like to exploit your situation so I can make money off of an article. I'm also too lazy to actually go out and be a journalist so I will ask from my computer.
We were all offered a dubious proposal to agree to resign and get paid through Sep. 30. There's no guarantee that it will be funded and most of us like our jobs and being civil servants—especially when dipshits are trying to undermine trust in government.
So, after laying off so many people from the government, and the trashing of DEI departments across the corporate landscape, it will be interesting to see what next month's unemployment numbers will be.
If there is an improvement, you know it is fabricated.
I could be wrong, but it appears this reporter picked a specific angle for their story BEFORE talking to the stakeholders. Why not request an opportunity to LISTEN to these workers’ concerns first? THEN decide what to write about. That would be far better than a tone-deaf request like this.
Oh … just saw he’s a real estate reporter, so the angle kind of makes sense. But as a recent graduate of an upper-class university, only five years removed from an elite boarding school, he probably has little to no experience covering sensitive topics like poverty. Hence the lack of compassion.
Maybe he is doing a survey of how many have savings for this rainy day. Seems stupid yes, but maybe his reporting options are limited. We had this reporting back in the 2008 crash.
It seems to me that they are always trying to get the feelings for their story. It seems obvious to me that they would be worried about paying rent or mortgage. If he gives solutions it would be better for those affected.
I think the NYT reporter should do a story about jumping out of airplanes without a parachute and asking if people are worried about hitting the ground suddenly. WTF‼️ Where journalism’s goes to die.
Thank you so much. I usually post with Alt Text and forgot to this time, and of course it's the one post that went viral. I apologize to all for the oversight.
Heh I get why this is the response bc the nut is terrible in general but honestly I want these reporters to be quoting people who are screwed by musk/trump and I don’t see how else they will get those quotes except to talk to affected people.
I think someone should interview the man that wrote the book. Homewreckers. For somebody that has been involved in real estate all his life. Donald Trump sure is a wrecker
well what about that huge and significant group of federal employees who are also independently wealthy and just doing this for sport? *checks notes* oh wait nancy pelosi still has a job. well. beats me!
I’ll admit that I’m confused about the hostility I’m seeing here. I’m seeing people on my feed going “why isn’t the media covering xyz?” But then when reporters look for personal stories they are taking advantage?
Not trying to attack your post, but I think the reporter is fine here.
totally agree with you that stories are important but the issue here is the tone and language of the request. same inquiry could have been done with far more respect and dignity. further up the chain you'll see a better approach (by a Reuters reporter).
Thanks! I went back and found the Reuters one you mentioned. I see the difference in approach. If you couldn’t tell, journalism is not actually my background!
A lot had performance issues in their termination letters. Wonder if this was an attempt to make getting unemployment insurance harder as well as making it harder to get a new job. Had nothing to do with getting rid of waste and everything to do with cruelty.
Federal employees, even probationary ones, aren't at will. Low performance is the only way (other than straight up fraud/illegal behavior) to fail your probation. As it is, the performance issues were provably false for everyone I know.
The "low performance" appears to have been added en masse to entire agencies' worth of letters. It might be a fig leaf in case there's some requirement somewhere for a justification—it's bullshit, but now the onus is on the fired worker to sue with that in print.
image ID: a post from the subreddit fednews by user Antique_Photograph59 with the title “Laid off workers: Are you worried about paying rent or your mortgage?”
image ID, cont.: the body text reads, “I'm a New York Times reporter working on a story about recently laid off federal workers who are now worried about paying rent or their mortgage. Are you concerned about paying rent or your mortgage?
How do you not understand, in 2025, that real journalists seek sources on social media... like, all the time? If it's a promising lead, they make confirmations other ways. But it's a great way to solicit leads and there's nothing wrong with that.
the point is that no one needs an article that offers you obvious answers to obvious questions, man
obviously yes, no one needs a 2,000 word writeup in the Times to get there, accept that as obvious fact and the writer can spend their time doing real analysis on the wider impact
That might be obvious to you and me (high five!), but *apparently* the rest of the US needs the consequences laid out to them in little more detail, and that's clearly what this reporter is trying to gather.
The other thing that makes it kind of bad is that instead of first talking to people impacted by the firings and then reporting on how they are impacted. He's basically just writing a stock article first, and hitting up people to say yes to this one sentence he wants to cite a source for.
It sound like you're being sarcastic. I really hope you're not. This is clearly a plea from a journalist trying to convey to the public — through personal stories — what it's really like to be a laid-off federal employee.
Except it's so weirdly written people aren't going to want to talk to him, as demonstrated by the response he got. He should try introducing himself and showing compassion, rather than sounding like ChatGPT.
This journalist seems to want to tell the stories of the people actually affected. Let America understand the real pain. Story-telling, not both-sidesing. That's what real journalism should be. Don't pass up your opportunity to be heard.
(No, I don't work for them, nor do I know this journalist.)
you guys are confusing a "does this category include you? if so let's talk" question with a "lol does anyone actually have to pay for a home?" question
this is very, obviously, a sorting and identifying question, not a literal question
but by all means, complain that a reporter WANTS to feature it
Yeah anyone with a high school paper or higher knowledge of journalism can see that this is an invitation to share quotes about the human cost of the layoffs but it's a lot more fun to believe it's some kind of elitist attack so that's what most of Bluesky will go with.
No, there's no confusion. There are multiple reporters on the sub looking for stories, and the sub is a great place for them to find people to profile. This particular example felt tone deaf. And lots of people seem to agree. That said, I'll link whatever article they write once/if it's published.
It's not weird at all. It's the opposite. This is a sympathetic journalist looking for sources so they can they can go on the record and tell these stories!
Modern journalism does use social media to recruit sources, (who are then verified before publishing, by other means.)
Maybe they should do an article about how major newspapers sold out our democracy for cash and access and helped cause the shitstorm these homeowners now find themselves
Comments
Like any other laid off or terminated employee who has to worry about putting food on the table, keeping a roof over the family’s heads, medical expenses, utilities…& the indignity of losing their jobs for bullshit reasons (poor performance).
Almost as lazy as interviewing the taxi driver on the way to your hotel.
"Government workers stop paying rent and mortgages after Biden leaves office!"
Every single one of those yuppy morons they employ grew up watching movies like All The Presidents Men and saw journalism not as a way to keep powerful people accountable, but as an avenue for fame
And so they treat their entire job like spectacle
They no longer care to punch up, but instead to look down, while they treat their day jobs as a cool social club we're not allowed to join or criticize
They were fired.
All of the people being laid off need to start being public about what they did and how society benefitted from it. Explain why your professional experience is valuable. Let America know what we're losing.
Reporter: "Police Officer ---- , when you arrived on the scene, did you see a lot of blood?"
Officer -----: "Yes. There was a lot of blood."
now thats some fucking rich person welfare right there
They get to weather the storm and buy up assets on the cheap.
Don't ask insane questions that essentially boil down to 'Is it harder to live when you're not making money anymore?'
Maybe ask to hear people's stories and see where they go instead of asking such a leading question?
Just about everyone who is laid off worries about making rent or mortgage. This just comes across as lazy.
Those was such a "DUH" question for a damn article. 🙄
The huge number of layoffs have the laid off workers worried about paying their rent and mortgage. Says one employee, "I am worried about paying my rent and mortgage now!" One thing is clear, there are many of laid off workers who ar
“How the Biden Administration failed Laid Off Federal Workers”
Good lord they’re dim
"Er, smallpox? Children?"
"Mortgages. Find out if the sacked federal workers have one."
"I'll call the boys at KPMG. See how many defaults they're predicting."
"Mmm... I'd go for the personal angle on this one."
Meanwhile for the rest of us...
And the NYT! Oh, HELL no!
The only Americans who don't worry about rent when losing their jobs are the ones who don't have to work in the first place.
Such stupid, unfeeling questions.
🤦♂️
Jobs. They do jobs.
Government spending? Paying people to do jobs.
This guy is an early career fellow at the NYT, on the real estate beat. He got his BA in 2023.
He’s probably given a pretty limited brief. Wider-ranging stories would go to more sr. reporters.
If those stories don’t come, then criticize, but it’s not this kid’s fault.
If you’re more interested in flaying a 23-year-old for accepting a prestigious fellowship at a legacy media institution that is deeply flawed and politically compromised (as all the big ones are), fine. But that’s a dffierent topic.
Captain obvious reporting.
If there is an improvement, you know it is fabricated.
I don’t read the NYT because of their paywall but at least I know what I’m missing out on because their reporters are loud, bumbling oafs.
Happy now?
Not trying to attack your post, but I think the reporter is fine here.
Just gonna sit here, stare at the wall and wait to die 🤷🏻♀️
the top reply, from user Specialist-Bird6349, reads, “What the fuck do you think?”
end ID
obviously yes, no one needs a 2,000 word writeup in the Times to get there, accept that as obvious fact and the writer can spend their time doing real analysis on the wider impact
(No, I don't work for them, nor do I know this journalist.)
🙃
this is very, obviously, a sorting and identifying question, not a literal question
but by all means, complain that a reporter WANTS to feature it
I’ve given up on eggs at this point.
Having a roof is my concern.
Modern journalism does use social media to recruit sources, (who are then verified before publishing, by other means.)