New Delhi, Feb. 5 -- Ron Charles, a prominent American book critic, was relishing one of the Harry & David pears sent by The Washington Post to mark 20 years of his service when he received his layoff notice. "Ironically, I received my layoff notice from Human Resources while I was eating one of the two remaining Harry & David pears that The Post sent to celebrate my 20th anniversary at the paper," he said.

Charles, who was a book critic at The Washington Post, is among the more than 300 journalists who were sacked by the Jeff Bezos-owned newspaper on Wednesday, bringing its book coverage to an end in one of the most sweeping job cuts in the media industry.

'I didn't start off as a journalist'

Sharing his ordeal on social media platfor...