The opinion pages of The Washington Post will champion “personal liberties and free markets” and leave other publications to offer opposing views on those topics, owner Jeff Bezos said in a social media post on Wednesday. The editorial page editor, David Shipley, resigned in opposition to the new direction.
In explaining his decision, Bezos wrote, “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 went on to add, “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.”
It was the second time in four months that Bezos’s direct involvement in Washington Post operations has angered its journalists and many of its readers; the first was the decision not to endorse Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, which lead to at least three resignations and reportedly the loss of more than 200,000 subscribers. Although other newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, also have pulled back from making endorsements, and it is not uncommon for a newspaper’s owner to have a say in its editorial decisions, in the current political climate, Bezos’ directive was remarkable in its cheerleading for America, capitalism and personal liberty — all themes of the current presidential administration. And the statement provided fresh fodder for those who have been accusing Bezos and other businessmen for “bending the knee” to President Donald Trump.
A headline in The Daily Beast said that Bezos had “surrendered to MAGA,” and The New Republic said “Jeff Bezos Reveals Sick MAGA Takeover of Washington Post.” Sen. Bernie Sanders said that the opinion pages of the Post are now “Trump right-wing.”
In its own coverage of the story, however, the Post quoted publisher and CEO William Lewis, who told staffers in an email that the newspaper was not “siding with any political party” but instead “being crystal clear about what we stand for as a newspaper.”
The Wall Street Journal, itself a champion of “free markets and free people,” described Bezos’ move as a “freedom turn” for the Post and said, “On economics in particular, the venerable George Will is its only clear free-market voice. Like every other major publication — the New York Times, Financial Times, Bloomberg, Politico, Axios — the Post has kicked like the Rockettes in the same ideological direction.”
But the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune cautioned that “writing only in support of something, which can lead to all kinds of bad outcomes as Bezos, as one of the most successful corporate executives ever to live, surely knows.” The Tribune also noted that, despite the industry handwringing, “Owners of newspapers have set directions for as long as there have been owners of newspapers.”
Bezos, who bought the Post in 2013, has shown concern about the editorial direction of the newspaper predating Trump’s second election. In 2023, The New York Times examined the first decade of the Post under Bezos and said that a new initiative to solicit reader commentary was “an opportunity to reach readers who may have tuned out the news.” Other noteworthy pivots in the industry, including the Los Angeles Times recruiting conservative pundit Scott Jennings to be part of its editorial board, are also arguably overdue moves to course-correct media institutions that had swung too far to the left over time.
It’s unclear, however, what the impact of such changes might be, given that many conservative readers have already abandoned the legacy media for right-leaning digital outlets. And some people on social media accused Bezos of courting Trump’s favor after he won, unlike Elon Musk, who came out in support of Trump after the assassination attempt in July.