When journalist Ruth Marcus joined the Washington Post 40 years ago, the paper was basking in the glory of its revelations that had led to President Richard Nixon's resignation, in 1974. Resonating with the mythical Watergate case, the first scandal to shake the Trump 2 administration was dubbed "Signalgate" – a reference to the use of the Signal messaging app to share classified information about a military operation in Yemen on March 15. The Atlantic, which broke the story, underscored the nod in its reporting.

Marcus, the deputy editor of the Washington Post Opinions section, reflected on the paper's former glory when she resigned on March 10, with a heavy heart. She had just written a cautious column about the MAGA influence that Jeff Bezos – founder of Amazon and owner of the Washington Post – was trying to imprint on the Opinion section. This piece, as she humorously put it, was closer to tofu than a juicy steak, in terms of criticism. It was censored. "The Washington Post I joined, the one I came to love, is not the Washington Post I left," she wrote in the New Yorker.

Beneath the two imposing rose-gold reflective turrets overlooking Franklin Square, five blocks from the White House, the crisis continues to simmer at the Washington Post's headquarters. On February 26, Bezos announced that the editorial pages would now follow an ideological filter: yes to opinions supporting "individual liberties" and "free markets," no to those opposing these pillars. The billionaire's words were vague, but the newsroom perceived them as a nod to Donald Trump. The editor of the Opinion section, David Shipley, resigned – and has yet to be replaced.

Poisoned allegiance

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