Posted on 02/26/2025 9:27:14 AM PST by Red Badger
PoliticsJUST IN: WaPo Reporters Melt Down, Rage Quit The Paper Over Bezos’ New DirectivePublished 2 hours ago on February 26, 2025By Mark Steffen The Washington Post’s chief opinion editor chose to pick up his ball and go home after Jeff Bezos handed down new instructions ordering his department to begin running pro-America, pro-freedom columns each morning.
The Amazon founder and Post owner shared on social media on Wednesday morning a note he recently sent to all WaPo staff about the change. In it, Bezos explains that, each day, the paper’s opinion pages will write “in support and defense of” personal liberties and free markets, two unassailable elements of American life that he believes should be universally respected.
“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,” his note read.
One person who wasn’t happy with the change was David Shipley, the department’s former executive editor.
“I offered David Shipley, whom I greatly admire, the opportunity to lead this new chapter. I suggested to him that if the answer wasn’t ‘hell yes,’ then it had to be ‘no.’ After careful consideration, David decided to step away. This is a significant shift, it won’t be easy, and it will require 100% commitment — I respect his decision. We’ll be searching for a new Opinion Editor to own this new direction,” Bezos said.
Shipley had been manning the opinion pages at the Washington Post since July 2022 when he took over for the late, Pulitzer Prize-winning Fred Hiatt. His decision to quit prompted economics reporter Jeff Stein to threaten his own resignation if Bezos tried a similar move inside the news department.
“Massive encroachment by Jeff Bezos into The Washington Post’s opinion section today – makes clear dissenting views will not be published or tolerated there,” Stein wrote on X. “I still have not felt encroachment on my journalism on the news side of coverage, but if Bezos tries interfering with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.”
Bezos, at one point the world’s richest man thanks to his decades of toiling to turn Amazon into the e-commerce juggernaut it is today, has no doubt about his decision.
“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,” his note concluded.
Stein’s tantrum was a savory moment for legacy media critics to pile on and remind him that the veneer of unbiased journalism is nearly worn off completely. If he leaves his perch at Washington, D.C.’s flagship paper, he may not land on his feet, one user joked.
“Have you considered learning to code, Jeff?” they asked him.
reporters?
lol
Stenographers...............
I think there will be great journalists lined up to be hired
I think there will be great journalists lined up to be hired
My dad used to tell me about American WWII reporters. One reported from London, during the height of the blitz bombings: “This...is London...and London can TAKE IT!” War reporters was always patriotic and pro-America. But these WaPo turds would rather QUIT than write a single column that is pro-America! Bring back the HUAC hearings!
I’m not sure if I can handle any more good news.
If Bezos really wants to change the direction of WaPo, he should welcome the rage-quits. But Bezos goes with any way the wind blows - four years ago he was telling us we needed to listen to BLM as they rioted and burned.
Easy gig while the propaganda content was in your email every morning. “Mockingbirds” from back in the Church Commission now run visual, print, entertainment, and news media content. Once you’ve taken the blue pill, the red pill won’t cure you. It destroys you.
Buh, bye.
SO MUCH WINNING!
I think there will be great journalists lined up to...get unemployment checks.
But in this state, Florida, you don’t get unemployment if you voluntarily quit...............
Is Bezos like Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai ... for four years pro Biden and anti Trump ... until Trump re-elected? Are they planing on being pro Trump until the next Democrat wins or steals the next Presidential election and then do another flip flop?
Good, maybe he can hire some real journalists who will write honest and interesting stuff.
I think bazo might just have stumbled onto something here the trump administration might just want to try.
Don’t fire people just trigger them so hard that they quit
Start with mandatory training on US CONSTITUTION, Founding fathers and their greatness.
How the US is the greatest country in the world.
Biology 101 only 2 sexes
Study of crimes caused by illegal aliens
Gender dysphoria, still classified as mental illness……
great way to get rid of liberal trash without having to pay them unemployment :)
The Steno Pools of yore were much more attractive.
Depends on the Kash flow...................
yep, mandatory weekly training on how gays are sexual deviants who need mental help.
that should trigger most of them to quit
bkmk
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