Washington Post staffers are in open rebellion against Jeff Bezos

CNN — Current and former Washington Post staffers are rebelling against Jeff Bezos after he announced a “significant” editorial shift that will see the paper’s Opinion section focus almost exclusively on personal liberties and free markets. In a rare public announcement, Bezos, who owns the Post, on Wednesday shared that the paper’s editorial section would pivot to publish daily opinion stories “in support and defense of” the two “pillars,” emphasizing that while the section’s coverage would also include other subjects, “viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.” While the Post’s reporting is still considered top-notch, the paper itself has hit a series of roadblocks in recent years. Marty Baron, the Post’s revered former executive editor under whom the outlet won 11 Pulitzer Prizes, told CNN in a statement that Bezos has ironically undermined personal liberties by “cravenly yielding to a president who shows no respect for liberty,” writing that the billionaire — whose holdings also include a sizeable chunk of Amazon and space technology company Blue Origin — “has prioritized those commercial interests over The Post, and he is betraying The Post’s longstanding principles to do so.” “It was only weeks ago that The Post described itself as providing coverage for ‘all of America,’” Baron wrote. Post tech reporter Drew Harwell on Bluesky shared a summary of comments on the story generated by the Post’s own AI tool that highlighted “significant discontent” from readers and “a strong sentiment of betrayal among long-time subscribers.” And, tellingly, David Maraniss, an editor at the paper, said on Bluesky that he would “never write for again as long as the owner.” “An absolute abandonment of the principles of accountability of the powerful, justice, democracy, human rights, and accurate information that previously animated the section in favor of a white male billionaire’s self-interested agenda,” Amanda Katz, who recently parted ways with the Post’s Opinion section, said of the overhaul on Bluesky. Though Murray reminded Post employees that Bezos is well within his right to enact changes in the Opinion section — which is “traditionally the provenance of the owner at news organizations” — he also emphasized that the newsroom will “continue to pursue engaging, impactful journalism without fear or favor.” CEO and publisher Will Lewis similarly wrote to Post staffers, saying the change was “not about siding with any political party,” but, rather, “about being crystal clear about what we stand for as a newspaper.” “Doing this is a critical part of serving as a premier news publication across America and for all Americans,” Lewis said, echoing Bezos’ mandate.