Things are changing at Washington Post Opinion department. After many years of having a mostly hands-off approach Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and Washington Post owner, has decided he wants to play newspaper editor. Jeff now wants the Opinion Section to focus on the "defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets". He didn't want to see anyone opposing it. Imagine having different opinions in the....checks notes... Opinion section. Jeff also wanted Opinion Editor Dave Shipley to have a "Hell Yes" attitude to the new approach. Dave apparently did not share the same enthusiasm and decided to leave.
This move is in addition to many at the paper who left since Bezo's discovered the newspaper on his portfolio when the paper wanted to endorse Vice President Harris in October 2024 and Jeff, sensing the political winds and possibility of another Trump term, spiked the endorsement. The decision angered many employees and subscribers, who left in droves. Blowing this off, Jeff has stayed to course, trying to stay as close to President Trump's backside, a crowded area these days. Then he donates a million dollars to Trumps Inauguration fund which bought him a seat behind Donald's derriere, Jeff's favorite viewing spot, at the Inaugartion, along with other tech-bros in front of Trump's future cabinet members. Then, we had further defections at the Post after an editorial cartoon byAnn Telnaes lampooning Bezos's (and others) paying monetary tribute to the future self-proclaimed king Donald Trump was also spiked. Excuses were made at the time otherwise, but with a wink, many knew the real reason why which was not to upset a certain newspaper owner. Ann quit and published it anyway.
In all this the bitter irony of the Post's motto of "Democracy Dies in Darkness" which had been there since the early days of Trump's first term in office. The Post was one of the beacons of hope and reliable information in the days of "alternative truth" and misinformation. Before recent months, Bezos had a hands-off approach to the paper. Since last fall, Bezos seems to be more concerned about the bottom line in his government dealings and how the paper might affect this more than the journalistic integrity of the much-esteemed Washington Post. Now, one has to wonder every day how Jeff is interfering in what's being said in his paper and exactly where his priorities are. The trust is gone. Democracy has died on the pages of the Post.
