WaPo Editor Steps Down After Jeff Bezos Announces Paper Will Write In Defense Of ‘Personal Liberties And Free Markets’

The Washington Post’s opinion editor, David Shipley, stepped down from his position Wednesday after Jeff Bezos, the owner of the paper, announced a major shift in the op-ed section.

Bezos announced that the paper’s opinion section will focus on defending personal liberties and free markets due to both of these two pillars having been a major part of America’s success. The Post’s owner said the opinion section will not include any criticisms of either of these pillars.

“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 said. “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,” Bezos continued.

Bezos said that he gave Shipley the opportunity to continue his role, but suggested that he was not enthusiastic about the shift in the opinion section.

“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,” Bezos continued. “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.”