Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos announced Wednesday that the paper will no longer publish opinion editorials opposing “personal liberties” or “free markets.”
This follows some 200,000 digital readers who canceled their subscriptions following the Washington Post’s decision not to offer an endorsement ahead of the 2024 election. A written endorsement of then-Vice President Kamala Harris had already been in the works when Bezos decided to break with tradition.
“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 of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others,” Bezos shared in the message he sent Washington Post staff on X.
“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 went on. “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.”
Bezos also announced the exit of opinion editor David Shipley, who held the position for two years. The owner offered Shipley the chance to continue leading this new effort but said, “If the answer wasn’t ‘hell yes,’ then it had to be ‘no,’” which prompted Shipley to bow out. The Washington Post has not announced his replacement.
Some subscribers reacted to the news by announcing they had canceled their subscriptions. This foreshadows a new wave of mass cancelations, the second in under six months. Washington Post staff even voiced their disapproval.
“Massive encroachment by Jeff Bezos into The Washington Post’s opinion section today – makes clear dissenting views will not be published or tolerated there,” Washington Post reporter Jeff Stein wrote on X. “I still have not felt encroachment on my journalism on the news side of coverage, but if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.”
Still, others approved of the move, such as X owner Elon Musk, who wrote, “Bravo.” Musk attended President Donald Trump’s inauguration with Bezos.
Bezos remains the executive chairman of Amazon, which contributed $1 million to Trump’s inauguration.
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Additionally, three members of the editorial board left their posts in protest of the direction the paper was headed last year.
The announcement of the Washington Post‘s non-endorsement came less than two weeks before Election Day. The Washington Post took up the tradition in 1988. It will no longer offer an endorsement in perpetuity.
