The part is not going to embody viewpoints that oppose private liberties and free markets, Bezos mentioned in a employees memo.
Washington Publish editorial web page editor David Shipley is leaving the paper as its opinion part shifts its focus to supporting and defending the subjects of non-public liberties and free markets, proprietor and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has instructed employees in a memo.
The part will cowl different subjects too, however is not going to publish viewpoints that oppose these two pillars, Bezos wrote within the employees memo on Wednesday. Shipley declined Bezos’ supply to remain on, Bezos wrote.
The transfer – which displays the Publish’s narrowing of focus from a general-interest opinion part that mirrored a large swath of views – follows the paper’s choice in October to cease its decades-long observe of endorsing presidential candidates.
In his memo to employees on Wednesday, Bezos framed the shift in each ideological and sensible phrases, writing that these viewpoints are underserved out there.
“I’m of America and for America, and proud to be so,” Bezos wrote. “Our nation didn’t get right here by being typical. And a giant a part of America’s success has been freedom within the financial realm and in every single place else.”
The adjustments had been defended by CEO and writer William Lewis, who joined the newspaper in early 2024 after working for shops managed by Rupert Murdoch.
“This isn’t about siding with any political celebration. That is about being crystal clear about what we stand for as a newspaper,” Lewis wrote in a memo to employees that was seen by Reuters.
Bezos is among the many a number of tech executives seen as making overtures to President Donald Trump in latest months. He was prominently seated throughout Trump’s inauguration, underscoring his shifting ties with the president.
The rising closeness has, nevertheless, irked some Publish subscribers.
The newspaper misplaced greater than 200,000 digital subscriptions after its transfer to not endorse a presidential candidate. That call additionally led three members of The Publish’s editorial board to resign in protest, based on a report within the newspaper.
“Large encroachment by Jeff Bezos into The Washington Publish’s opinion part in the present day – makes clear dissenting views is not going to be printed or tolerated there,” the newspaper’s White Home economics reporter Jeff Stein mentioned in a submit on X.
The Publish’s opinion part is separate from its news-gathering division, which focuses on fact-based reporting.