Jeff Bezos is shaking up the Washington Post again. The billionaire owner of the newspaper said Wednesday he will change the focus of the opinion section to focus on “support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets.”
According to Bezos, he offered Washington Post editorial opinion page editor David Shipley “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,’” Bezos wrote in a post on X. ”After careful consideration, David decided to step away.” As such, “We’ll be searching for a new Opinion Editor to own this new direction.”
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Bezos, who acquired the Washington Post in 2013, said the Post’s opinion section will “cover other topics too of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.” According to the Amazon founder, “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.”
Shipley, former editorial page editor for the New York Times and one-time executive editor of Bloomberg View became the Washington Post’s editorial page editor in July 2022. In an email to colleagues obtained by the New York Times, Shipley wrote in part, “It is with both sadness and gratitude that I write to let you know that I have decided to leave The Post. This is a conclusion I reached after reflection on how I can best move forward in the profession I love.”
Jeff Stein, the Post’s chief economics reporter, slammed Bezos’ move, writing on X: “Massive encroachment by Jeff Bezos into The Washington Post’s opinion section today — makes clear dissenting views will not be published or tolerated there. I still have not felt encroachment on my journalism on the news side of coverage, but if Bezos tries interfering with the news side I will be quitting immediately and letting you know.”
The changes Bezos has made at WaPo come as he has cozied up to Donald Trump, which some critics see as an attempt to curry favor with the current U.S. president or to avoid getting bullied by Trump. The day after the election, Bezos congratulated Trump “on an extraordinary political comeback and decisive victory,” while Amazon was among companies that donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund. Bezos also has said he is willing to work with President Trump to dismantle government regulations that hinder economic growth.
Last fall, Bezos ignited a major backlash among Washington Post readers and staff when he decreed — less than two weeks before the U.S. presidential election — that the newspaper would not endorse a candidate.
“We just decided [an endorsement] wasn’t… going to influence the election one way or the other,” Bezos said at the New York Times’ DealBook Summit in December. He added, “The pluses of doing this were very small.” Bezos admitted it would have been better if he’d had the “prescience” to have made the change two years ago rather than shortly before the 2024 election, but that he was nevertheless “proud” of the decision.
At the DealBook conference, Bezos acknowledged that he’s a “terrible” owner of Washington Post because there are continuous questions of conflicts with Bezos’ interests in Amazon and aerospace company Blue Origin. But, he added, when the Post needs “financial resources, I’m available. I’m like the doting parent in that regard.” Bezos had previously written in a Washington Post op-ed that he was aiming to restore consumers’ trust in the paper by eliminating the practice of political endorsements, which he said “create the perception of bias.”
Bezos founded Amazon in 1994 and stepped aside as CEO in 2021. He continues to serve as the company’s executive chairman.
Here is the text of the note Bezos sent to Post staffers:
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.
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.
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.
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.
Jeff
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