David Shipley, opinions editor of The Washington Post, has resigned after a major shift in the newspaper’s editorial direction. Owner Jeff Bezos announced that the section would now focus only on “personal liberties and free markets.” Shipley, who had led the opinions section since 2021, chose to step down instead of continuing under the new policy.
Here’s what we know so far about David Shipley’s resignation.
David Shipley resigns amid Jeff Bezos announcement
Jeff Bezos, owner of The Washington Post, announced Wednesday that the newspaper’s opinions section will now focus on “personal liberties and free markets.” The newspaper will no longer publish viewpoints opposing those ideas. Due to this shift, opinions editor David Shipley has resigned. The Post is now searching for a replacement. Bezos shared this decision in an email to Post staffers, which he also posted on X.
“We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets,” Bezos wrote. “We’ll cover other topics too of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.” In the same memo, Bezos stated that he had offered Shipley a chance to continue under the new direction, but Shipley chose to step down.
Bezos justified the change by saying the internet already provides diverse viewpoints, making a broad newspaper opinion section unnecessary. “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. “Today, the internet does that job.”
Post publisher and CEO William Lewis addressed staff in a separate email, emphasizing that the decision was not about aligning with any political party. “This is about being crystal clear about what we stand for as a newspaper,” Lewis wrote (via Washington Post).
Originally reported by Vritti Johar on Comingsoon.
