Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos announced a dramatic ideological shift for his newspaper’s opinion section toward free markets, and staff are predictably having a nervous breakdown over it.
Bezos stated on X that he notified Post staff of significant changes being made to the opinion section: “We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets.” In addition, said Bezos, “We’ll cover other topics too of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.” Bezos emphatically stated his confidence 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.”
This is a massive hard-to-starboard maneuver on Bezos’s part, given the life-sucking abyss of monolithic leftist sewage his newspaper’s opinion section has been over the years. It also follows Bezos’s surprising move before the 2024 election to bar his newspaper from making any political endorsements, because, who knew that maintaining neutrality constituted good journalism ethics! MRC Vice President of Research and Publications Brent Baker welcomed the news: "After a dozen years of ownership in which The Washington Post matched the liberal legacy media’s disdain for anyone not liberal, and became less and less relevant, it’s good to see Bezos recognize there’s a big audience out there in favor of basic American values. But it's sad Post journalists see this as an attack on them and not an opportunity."
Along parallel lines, NewsBusters Executive Editor Tim Graham expressed surprise at Bezos’s move in a statement:
It's one thing for Jeff Bezos to rule against an editorial endorsing Kamala for President. This is a more dramatic proclamation that flies in the face of the leftist culture of The Washington Post. To most Posties, ‘free markets’ sounds like a PR phrase for rapacious price-gouging greedheads.
I shared this note with the Washington Post team this morning:
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) February 26, 2025
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…
The Post staff’s reaction effectively proved Baker's and Graham’s point that they’re so wedded to their ideological wormhole that any shift to the center spells Armageddon. As insufferable Post columnist Philip Bump cried on Bluesky five minutes after Bezos’s X post went live: “[W]hat the actual fuck.”
Post Opinion Editor David Shipley immediately quit following Bezos’s announcement to his staff, perhaps he couldn’t fathom the idea of “personal liberty” and “free markets” actually being the guiding principles of his department. According to Bezos, “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.” It’s worth pointing out that Shipley — when he was a top brass editor for Bloomberg Opinion — had taken a leave of absence to join his boss Michael Bloomberg’s $1 billion-plus 2020 campaign, so he was never really a beacon for independent journalism to begin with.
Post economics reporter Jeff Stein was erratic in his response to the Bezos announcement. “Massive encroachment by Jeff Bezos into The Washington Post’s opinion section today - makes clear dissenting views will not be published or tolerated there.” Is he serious? Did he have a brain fart about where he works? This is the same newspaper that grave-stomped over its dead conservative editor Wesley Pruden as “defiantly abrasive,” which is asinine considering how its obituary section treated the death of murderous Cuban dictator Fidel Castro when it hailed him in as a “romantic figure in olive-drab fatigues and combat boots.” “Dissenting views” won’t be “tolerated?” Oh shut up Stein.
“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.” Right Stein, we are all just waiting on the edge of our seats gorging on hopium to see what your decision will be in this scenario (sarcasm).
Oh how terrible the prospect that Stein probably won’t be able to mindlessly simp for Bidenomics and disguise his opinion as news as he’s done in the past!