Washington Post to publish only pro "personal liberty" and "free markets" opinions now

One may suggest that the freedom to write and read dissenting opinions is a “personal liberty,” but apparently not in Bezos’ paper. “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,” he wrote. You might think we’re still in that time, but Bezos would disagree. “Today, the internet does that job,” he wrote. It just often doesn’t fact-check or have any incentive to tell the truth.  

The email continues with a bunch of word salad about how freedom is “ethical” and “practical” before dropping its second bomb: prior opinions editor, David Shipley, is officially out. Bezos writes that he offered Shipley (“whom I greatly admire”) a chance to stay on in compliance with these new regulations, but “if the answer wasn’t ‘hell yes,’ then it had to be ‘no.'” Apparently, it was “no.” The paper is currently searching for a more compliant editor to “own this new direction.” 

In a separate memo, Washington Post chief executive Will Lewis suggested that the changes were “not about siding with any political party,” per The New York Times. “This is about being crystal clear about what we stand for as a newspaper,” he continued. “Doing this is a critical part of serving as a premier news publication across America and for all Americans.”

Representatives from The Washington Post did not immediately respond to The A.V. Club‘s request for comment on this story.