Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos said Wednesday that the newspaper's opinion editor, David Shipley, "decided to step away" after Bezos' decision to shift the opinion pages to emphasize "personal liberties and free markets."
Bezos, the billionaire Amazon founder who bought the Post in 2013, told Post employees about Shipley through a note on X.
"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,'" Bezos said. "After careful consideration, David decided to step away."
Bezos said he respects Shipley's decision, but said the shift in editorial policy will "require 100% commitment" and added that the paper will be searching for a new opinion editor to "own this new direction."
Shipley, in a note to opinion staff members, said he decided to step down after "reflection on how I can best move forward in the profession I love," reported The New York Times.
Shipley joined the Washington Post in 2022 as the editorial page editor. He is a former speechwriter for Bill Clinton and has been employed at New Republic, Bloomberg, and The New York Times.
Post Chief Executive Will Lewis wrote in a memo to staff that the changes to the opinion section were not about "siding with any political party."
"This is about being crystal clear about what we stand for as a newspaper," he said. “Doing this is a critical part of serving as a premier news publication across America and for all Americans."
Bezos' note said that the editorial pages would have content "every day" in support and defense of 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 wrote.
He added that in the past, newspapers thought it was necessary to deliver broad-based opinions to cover all views, but now, "the internet does that job."
Bezos said that America's success comes from "freedom in the economic realm and everywhere else." He also wrote that the viewpoints of markets and liberties are "underserved in the current market of ideas and news opinion. I'm excited for us together to fill that void."
Wednesday's announcement also led a key figure at the Washington Post, chief economics reporter Jeff Stein, to threaten his resignation.
"Massive encroachment by Jeff Bezos into The Washington Post's opinion section today - makes clear dissenting views will not be published or tolerated there," Stein posted on X.
"I still have not felt encroachment on my journalism on the news side of coverage, but if Bezos tries interfering with the news side I will be quitting immediately and letting you know."
The shift in the Post's opinion page stance comes as Amazon faces a trial in October 2026 on alleged antitrust violations following a lawsuit in 2023 from the Biden-era Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys generals, reported Deadline.
Bezos' decision in October to block the Post's planned endorsement of Democrat presidential nominee Kamala Harris sparked dissatisfaction in the newsroom and led to the resignation of several key editorial board members. The decision also prompted more than a quarter-million subscribers to cancel.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.