- Jeff Bezos, owner of The Washington Post, has shifted the focus of the paper's opinion section to personal liberties and free market.
- This decision is a significant shift from the paper's left-leaning editorial page.
- Notable figures such as Elon Musk and Sen. Bernie Sanders have shared their thoughts on the changes.
Jeff Bezos, owner The Washington Post, has changed the focus of the paper’s opinion section to defending individual liberties and the free market, shifting away from its more progressive focus. The shift has spurred a variety of reactions from people across the political spectrum.
In response to the change in focus, the news outlet’s opinion editor David Shipley has resigned, per The Associated Press.
In a post on X announcing the shift in the paper’s opinion section, Bezos wrote “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.”
Bezos added “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.”
The billionaire is also the founder and largest individual shareholder of Amazon. He bought the Post and other newspapers in 2013, per the AP.
This decision to change the focus of views in the Post’s opinion section is a “major departure from the newspaper’s decades-long approach to commentary and criticism,” per The New York Times. With Shipley leading, the Post published primarily views from the political left, but included voices from the political right as well.
The executive editor of the Post, Matt Murray, shared in a memo that the changes would only impact the opinion section and would not change the newsroom’s mission “to pursue engaging, impactful journalism without fear or favor,” per The New York Times.
According to The New York Times, Shipley’s concerns with the shift include “The Post’s ecumenical approach to commentary made the coverage unique and valuable, and putting out a daily section with quality writing on a narrower set of views could be challenging.”
Reactions to The Washington Post’s shift in focus
It didn’t take long after Bezos' announcement for a variety of people to share their reactions online, both in favor of and against the change.
Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk posted on X, “Good! The culture is changing rapidly for the better.” Fellow billionaire Elon Musk wrote “Bravo, @JeffBezos!”
Sen. Bernie Sanders I-Vermont, took to X to share his thoughts on Bezos’ shift, ”This is what Oligarch ownership of the media looks like,” he wrote.
A former executive editor of the Post, Marty Baron, shared a statement on the shift in the opinion section.
“Bezos argues for personal liberties. But his news organization now will forbid views other than his own in its opinion section,” he wrote, according to the AP. “There is no doubt in my mind that he is doing this out of fear of the consequences for his other business interests.”
Media critic Steve Krakauer had a different take on X. “The Jeff Bezos competing narratives - that he’s cozying up to Trump to further his business interests OR that he’s arrived at a principled journalistic stance - could both be wrong,” he wrote. “The permission structure in 2025 has allowed billionaires and corporate leaders to simply be themselves. It’s just YOLO now, and he no longer cares about the cultural or social consequences to his actions.”
Author and columnist Batya Ungar-Sargon, who writes about class and politics, had a more critical view. “At a time when Americans on the Left and the Right have turned on the neoliberal worship of free markets, under the direction of its billionaire owner, WaPo’s opinion section will only publish opeds that push the libertarian view with its 3% support among the American people,” she wrote, adding an upside-down smiley face.