Amazon founder and owner of The Washington Post Jeff Bezos announced a new direction for the paper Wednesday morning as a reckoning among the media in a new Trump era continues.
"I’m writing to let you know about a change coming to our opinion pages. We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets. We’ll cover other topics too of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others," Bezos wrote in a letter to Washington Post employees and posted on X. "There was a time when a newspaper, especially one that was a local monopoly, might have seen it as a service to bring to the reader’s doorstep every morning a broad-based opinion section that sought to cover all views. Today, the internet does that job."
"I am of America and for America, and proud to be so. Our country did not get here by being typical. And a big part of America’s success has been freedom in the economic realm and everywhere else. Freedom is ethical — it minimizes coercion — and practical — it drives creativity, invention, and prosperity," he continued. "I’m confident that free markets and personal liberties are right for America. I also believe these viewpoints are underserved in the current market of ideas and news opinion. I’m excited for us together to fill that void."
Resignations and outage over the move are already underway.
"I offered David Shipley, whom I greatly admire, the opportunity to lead this new chapter. I suggested to him that if the answer wasn’t 'hell yes,' then it had to be 'no.' After careful consideration, David decided to step away. This is a significant shift, it won’t be easy, and it will require 100% commitment — I respect his decision. We’ll be searching for a new Opinion Editor to own this new direction," Bezos continued.
Massive encroachment by Jeff Bezos into The Washington Post’s opinion section today - makes clear dissenting views will not be published or tolerated there
— Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) February 26, 2025
I still have not felt encroachment on my journalism on the news side of coverage, but if Bezos tries interfering with the… pic.twitter.com/7hzWCUDCVV
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