Quote of the Day
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 of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Jeff Bezos @JeffBezos
Posted on X, February 26, 2025
The Washington Post!
It is very telling that Shipley is willing to lose his job rather than be an advocate for freedom.
See also Shake-up at WaPo: The opinion editor is out as Bezos says op-eds must defend ‘free markets’ and ‘personal liberties’. Other people at the Post are outraged that freedom will get a voice.
We live in interesting times. Perhaps, we are experiencing a preference cascade.
That certainly is a major shift for Bezos. Hopefully it is sincere — the wording makes it feel like it could be. If so, the next question is to what extent it is based on actual support for liberty, and to what extent it’s an attempt to keep WaPo from bankruptcy.
Bezos has always had Left-leaning Libertarian tendencies…
I respect David Shipley’s decision. It sure beats saying what the boss wants to hear and then working to undermine the directive from the inside.
I care less about the editorial pages than the news coverage. Editorial pages are opinion while it is important that news be as impartial as it can be in an imperfect world.
Bezo is an elitist. He cares about being elite, and nothing else. Whatever it takes to stay there is what he is going to be all about.
He owns the paper for no other reason.
Opinion pages are wrote by people that have PhD’s in communism, with a minor in english and word composition.
Being brainwashed stops them from being pragmatic.
Society is changing, and Bezo is helping change it. Good or bad don’t matter,
Just like every other job. You do what the boss wants. Or not.
My opinion is that one less communist getting paid to prattle is never a bad thing.
Well, as we all know: “Freedom is slavery.”
Yes, this has been well known since Nineteen Eighty Four.
" Editorial pages are opinion while it is important that news be as impartial as it can be in an imperfect world."
“Opinion” bleeding over into “news” has been endemic in American and most of western media; there’s no airtight barrier runnng down the middle of the room separating “opinion desks” from “news desks.” If Bezos is going to correct that he has his work cut out for him.
I suspect Shipley’s experience may be repeated at other outlets; it will be interesting to see where these people wind up because all of them have the same gene and are carriers of “opinionitis.” WaPo has been thoroughly corrupted by it for decades, as have other media outlets, but it was easily identified there. Owners of other media outlets will have to be careful they don’t infect their businesses with the same disease by hiring it.
Bezos is a businessman. He sees which way the wind is blowing and is protecting his investment.
IMHO Mr. Shipley is a true believer in liberal “Change the World” journalism. Asking him to change the direction of the opinion page is like asking him to deny his god.
Don’t shed a tear for Mr. Shipley. He’ll make up his income from appearances on CNN and/or MSNBC and writing for the left wing blogs and newsletters.
Maybe, USAID ain’t paying like they used to.
No matter, I wouldn’t shed tears for Mr. Shipley if he were reduced to share-cropping carrots in Haiti.
It is pretty clear in hindsight WFB was more interested in being invited to the right dinner parties in Manhattan than having National Review be actually and actively Conservative. The mag going full blown TDS was just the end point of a long slide, not a change in direction.
Shipley is more interested in his standing inside the Beltway but was honest enough to quit instead of staying and ‘sticking it to the man’.
Bezos will have to go to Red states to restaff WaPo, the incumbents won’t change.