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The Washington Post will stop publishing opinions contrary to “personal freedoms and free market“In its editorial pages, its owner, Jeff Bezos, announced on Wednesday in the last intervention of the billionaire in the writing of the great American newspaper. David Shipley, in charge of the area, took a step to the side.
“We are going to write every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal freedoms and free market,” Bezos wrote in the social network X.
“We will also cover other issues, of course but the views opposed to those pillars will be left to publish others,” he warned.
The measure, which is an important break with the standard of plurality in the opinion pages of the post and of most credible media in the world, occurs at a time when US media face growing threats to their Freedom and accusations of partiality by President Donald Trump.
In October, Bezos unleashed the controversy by blocking the support foreseen by the post to Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris for the presidential elections of 2024, which triggered Protests in the writing and subscriber cancellations.
I shared this note with the Washington Post team this morning:
I’m writing to let you know about a change coming to our opinion pages.
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…
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) February 26, 2025
And in January, an award -winning political caricaturist from the newspaper, Ann Telnaes, announced its resignation after one of his drawings that showed Bezos kneeling to achieve Trump’s approval was rejected.
At that time, the editor of the editorial page, David Shipley, defended the decision, saying that it had been taken to avoid repeated coverage of the same subject.
On Wednesday, Bezos announced that Shipley would leave his post because he had not signed the new policy of opinion pages.
Other newspaper members also expressed their worry.
“Jeff Bezos’ massive invasion in the opinion section of The Washington Post today makes it clear that dissident opinions will not be published or tolerated there,” said Jeff Stein, the main economic correspondent of the newspaper, in X.
Massive encroachment by Jeff Bezos into The Washington Post’s opinion section today – makes clear dissenting views will not be published or tolerated there
I still have not felt encroachment on my journalism on the news side of coverage, but if Bezos tries interfering with the… pic.twitter.com/7hzWCUDCVV
— Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) February 26, 2025
In his Wednesday publication, Bezos said that The Washington Post did not have to offer contrary opinions because “Internet does that job“.
Bezos, also the owner of Amazon and the third richest man in the world, has been more and more they are looking for Trump Since he won the elections, in November 2024, like other American technological magnates.
David Shipley refused to continue as head of the Washington Post publishing page after Jeff Bezos decided to make an important change in the section.
The newspaper owner, in fact, requested that these pages only deal with “individual freedoms and free market.”
“After much reflection, David has decided to step back,” Bezos himself announced after offering Shipley stay.
“I respect your decision, I asked him to be 100% convinced of change or left“The millionaire added.