Abandoning Progressive Stance, Shifting to the Right
WP Opinion Section Editor Resigns in Protest
Jeff Bezos, the owner of the Washington Post (WP), a leading progressive media outlet in the United States and founder of Amazon, has announced that going forward, the opinion pages will only publish articles supporting personal liberties and free markets. The editor in charge of the opinion section resigned in protest against this policy.
On the 26th (local time), Bezos wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) account, "I am writing this to inform you that there will be changes to our (WP) opinion page." He added, "From now on, we will publish articles every day that support and advocate for two fundamental principles: personal liberties and free markets. Of course, other topics will be covered, but articles opposing these two principles will be left to other media outlets."
He also explained, "There was a time when newspapers, especially local monopoly newspapers, considered the broad opinion pages that included all viewpoints as a service delivered every morning to readers' doorsteps. But today, the internet has taken over that role." Bezos continued, "I am an American and work for America, and I am proud of that. Much of America's success has come from the freedoms enjoyed in the economy and all other areas. Freedom is ethical, minimizes coercion, and is practical. It promotes creativity, invention, and prosperity." He added, "I shared this message with the WP team this morning."
The two principles emphasized by Bezos are core values pursued by the conservative camp, suggesting that WP's editorial stance will shift toward conservatism. However, there appear to be internal movements within WP opposing this change in tone. Bezos reported that David Shipley, the opinion editor, resigned in protest against his policy.
Bezos said, "I offered this new era leadership opportunity to Shipley, whom I deeply respect, but after much consideration, he decided to resign. This is a significant change that will not be easy and will require 100% commitment." Bezos also stated that he will look for a new opinion editor to lead the new direction.
Bezos has faced criticism for influencing WP's editorial stance since last year's presidential election. Since 1976, WP has publicly supported Democratic candidates in every presidential election except for the 1988 election. However, during the last presidential election, an editorial draft supporting then-Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate, was not published due to Bezos's opposition.
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