Jeff Bezos Announces Resignation of Washington Post Opinion Editor Over New Editorial Mandate in Stunning Statement

Freedom is ethical — it minimizes coercion — and practical — it drives creativity, invention, and prosperity.
So buying a major newspaper and firing (or putting pressure on) anybody who doesn't agree with the new owner's "pillars" is not coercion? Did Bezos get this buff from the mental gymnastics?
PS: surprised nobody mentioned Manufacturing Consent yet, which describes exactly what is happening here, and remains valid in the age of Internet

The fascism is happening.
- Took about a month

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.” After careful consideration, David decided to step away.
That is termination, not resignation.
Fucking scumbag.

Trash capitalist propaganda is becoming even worse? I'm shocked. Shocked!!! \s

Everyone should resign. Or strike. Striking would be better

It's a good thing I stopped bothering with the Washington Post even before Bezos bought it. In fact pretty much every news organization that is owned by a singular entity is completely worthless nowadays.

Billionaire meddling turns a respected paper into a megaphone for personal agendas.
😼😼
- The people who previously respected the WaPo are part of the problem.

Freedom is ethical — it minimizes coercion — and practical — it drives creativity, invention, and prosperity.
this is a very interesting sentence to find in a post that outlines the ways in which the opinion page will be losing some of its editorial freedom.
- War is peace.
  Freedom is slavery.
  Ignorance is strength.
  
  In the grimdark future of the 2nd millennium, there is only way.
- It's also gotta be one of the worst sentences I've ever read, yikes. Maybe get an editor to look it over.
  
  They did. They just looked at it and said "hell yes" while sweating profusely.
  
  Hey, I like to think that sometimes I might feel the need to write remarkably similar sentences to the kinds that you, u/bearboiblake might have referenced in this particular editorial expression of human nature and sentiment in America, today.
  -You know, badly,
  
  Yeah two em dashes in a single sentence is too many, and that one's got three

Jeff Bezos Announces Resignation
They had us in the first half, not gonna lie
- Instead, he asked Freedom Of the Press to step down.
- What position would Bezos resign from, out of curiosity?
  
  Being alive, ideally
  
  returning his to his form as alien scout for invasion.

We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets.
Democracy dies in the free market.
- "free" "market"
- Who wants democracy, when we can have an anarcho-capitalist libertarian utopia?
  
  anarcho-capitalist libertarian utopia?
  I hate that edgelord libertarians are trying to rebrand themselves as "anarcho-capatalist". Anarchy and capitalism are antithetical to one another. It doesn't have anything to do with anarchy if you aren't evaluating hierarchy, and capitalism is literally one of the most hierarchical organizational structures possible.
  
  At least guns and ammo will be plentiful because the market will soon demand more.
  
  People voted for the leopards, you can't say it's not democracy.
- Capitalism
- There is no such thing as a free market.

Y’all, stop buying shit from Amazon, completely. That’s where you start.
Bezos has money because we continue to give it to him. So, the first order of business is to simply stop spending money with him.
As in, forever.
Find an alternative vendor, or even schlep on down to a physical store if you need to.
- I agree, but also they don't make their money from sales. They make money from AWS servers/ services. I would bet that they lose money or maybe slightly break even on every sale of a physical item.
  
  Yeah, the warehouses are quite badly run.
  Edit; I’ve had a beer. In my experience of the one I’ve worked in.
  
  Are any lemmy instances hosted on AWS?
  
  Ugh, that really sucks. I didn’t realize AWS was their bread and butter now.
  Even so.
- Last time I looked at Amazon's books, their retail arm was barely profitable. Most of their actual profits came from AWS.
  Azure (MS) or GCP (Google) are the alternatives.
  
  Or if you want to avoid Big Tech altogether, there’s DigitalOcean, Akamai, Linode, IBM, Cloudflare, and a handful of other point providers.
  
  OIC, too.
- Would love to see a really comprehensive list of sites that aren't garbage AI slop scam alleyways that would help cover the goods and services that Amazon acts as a one-stop convenience for. I don't want to support Amazon, but I also don't want to get scammed by handing out my credit card info to any old shopping site.
  Feel free to add more suggestions in your own replies.
  I'll start :
  Electronics : B&H Photo - owned by religious folks so hours of operation are a little odd sometimes, but overall good customer service, fair prices, reliable shipping
  Grocieries : Central Market - HEB's high-tier store chain for high-quality groceries, instead of Whole Foods
  Kitchen supplies : Webstaurant - Wholesale store for things like home kitchen goods and supplies, as well as things like flatware and dishes
  
  This is only for software, and focused around tracking cookies (or lack thereof), but maybe it can expand to consumer goods: CookieSlayers
  
  B&H photo isn't just "owned by religious folks". They staff everything above the warehouse exclusively with Hasidic Orthodox Jewish men.
  Afaik they aren't tied to supporting Zionism. They had some problems a decade ago with safety standards and union busting.
  
  I want a non profit/open source store aggregator where we can search for what we want like Amazon but direct is to the site with the item we are looking for.
  
  Thanks
- Amazon is a server hosting company that happens to sell cheap junk.
  
  All of lemmy shopping Prime is a drop in the oceans of the millions per month my company pays aws
- "V0te with ur d0ll4rzzz!!!"
  Do you actually think the next best option is actually good? There is no escape from capitalism.

what's "stunning" about the statement?
All I saw was:
Opinion Editor did not want to continue to be a meat puppet for this propaganda outlet
Bezos accepted resignation
Bezos to look for new meat puppet
- I assumed the stunning part was this:
  We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: 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.
  It's just pretty blatant.
  
  free markets
  This one is especially hilarious in the Trump Tariffs era.
  
  How is this any different from their prior propaganda? Just the overt declaration?
- Bezos accepted resignation
  Bezos constructed resignation, which is legally termination, not resignation at all.

Bezos can get fucked.
- And not in the good way.
  
  I propose a backwards pineapple
- Zuck's taking care of that with Jeff's wife

We recently got rid of our subscriptions and canceled Prime. Wish we had done it much sooner, but better late than never.
- For those on the fence on quitting Amazon: you can still use the website and shop, just search for the manufacturers website on stuff you want and purchase direct from them.
  You know, like going to a book store and ordering the books you find there from Amazon.
  
  Also even if something very specific that you want isn't available outside of Amazon, that's all the more reason to definitely not buy it and message the manufacturer/seller and let them know why you're not buying it. Boycotts will sometimes mean not buying something you really want to buy, that's working as designed.
  
  Great suggestion!
- Most decent manufacturers have their own website and fast shipping. I had to leave Amazon just for the fake and damaged merchandise alone.
  
  Yeah, I am currently dealing with my last couple returns through them before I can properly cancel. I consider it punishment for not doing it earlier.
  Ordered an ergo trackball, got sent the wrong model. Now since it's through a third party seller my return documentation says I need to call the seller, on the god damned telephone, for a free return label rather than paying for postage myself. I haven't even shipped the return yet and I have already been using one I bought direct from Logitech that was cheaper and arrived in 1-2 days with their free "4-7 day" shipping.
  I am also awaiting my third copy of a monitor that comes with a no dead pixel guarantee. The number of dead pixels has been nonzero and increasing with each new monitor. This isn't necessarily Amazon's fault -- it took 3 tries to get my old 50" Panasonic plasma without a dead pixel -- but sending returns right back out the door is entirely likely too. I have bought and returned far more expensive things that absolutely looked like they were used (pro camera lenses for one).
  
  I've already set up subscriptions with several manufacturers directly through their sites vs ordering through Amazon. Same or better prices, too.
- Why would anybody pay for stuff that's completely free to download?
  Maybe they gotta pay for a VPN but that's quite affordable and people should be doing that anyway.

He's basically making the exact same argument as Faux News did, 30 years or more after anyone reasonable realized that they were blatantly lying.

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.
That's exactly what a journalistic organisation is meant to do Jeff, especially now when the world is increasingly being filled with mouthpieces that regurgitate what their owners want them to.
An organisation that puts out only one opinion, or is only allowed to put out one opinion, is nothing more than a mouthpiece.
Its a shame to see the Post becoming just another mouthpiece.
- The gall of these billionaires to just buy a news organization and then blatantly state "we're not going to do news anymore" is just incredible.
  Even Rupert Murdock had the courtesy to come up with the Fox News "Fair and Balanced" slogan (even though it was completely full of shit).
  Bezos is just like "yeah we're going full on propaganda, go fuck yourself."
  
  TBH the honesty is refreshing compared to the historical bullshit.
  
  On the other end, you've got billionaire Jeff Lawson rescuing The Onion from private equity hell. I count their revived print subscription as one of the best things I've spent money on recently, considering it used to be free.
- All of these capitalist propaganda outlets pump out the same imperial message. The firing of this one guy won't change that at all.
- Among many reasons, I'll never subscribe to WP again. I used to.
  
  I used to as well. And I'm Canadian.
  Never again as long as that asshole owns the paper.
- Bezos’s exercise of greater control over the Post‘s journalism in recent months has raised eyebrows.
  Raised eyebrows? Is mild-washing a word? It should be.
- Historically, journalism was about sifting through the different things that multiple people say are true, in order to figure out what actually is true.
  But now it can just be about what one person says is true, and the internet can figure out what’s actually true!
- You misspelled propaganda.

"Democracy dies in Darkness"
-Washington Post
"Nah, I knifed that bitch in the back in broad daylight."
-Jeff Bezos

Interestingly, the Post and the NYT both lean heavily on their Opinion sections to pretend they're not licking boots. Now the Post won't have that option.

Buy your axe grinding wheels now before it's hard to keep them in stock.

...in Stunning Statement

I’m writing to let you know about a change coming to our opinion pages.
We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: 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.
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. Today, the internet does that job.
I am of America and for America, and proud to be so. Our country did not get here by being typical. And a big part of America’s success has been freedom in the economic realm and everywhere else. Freedom is ethical — it minimizes coercion — and practical — it drives creativity, invention, and prosperity.
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.” After careful consideration, David decided to step away. This is a significant shift, it won’t be easy, and it will require 100% commitment — I respect his decision. We’ll be searching for a new Opinion Editor to own this new direction.
I’m confident that free markets and personal liberties are right for America. I also believe these viewpoints are underserved in the current market of ideas and news opinion. I’m excited for us together to fill that void.
- Can't wait for trans right and abortion opinion piece. No freedom gets more personal.
- Freedom is ethical — it minimizes coercion
  So employees coerced into working shit jobs or overtime aren't free, thanks for clearing that up.
  
  No, no. Those workers are entering into a contract with just as much power as the asshole billionaire owner has. But demanding that asshole billionaire to pay a fair rate of tax-- that's coercion.
  There, did I do the libertarian doublethink dance right?
- I am really lost here. Is the idea to attract the exact same (super niche) readership as the wall street journal? We know from this election that there are very few voters in this domain, since this is exactly the type of voter Harris tried (and failed to) attract.
  Somewhat ironically we have gone from the very bad outcome of for-profit media, to the even worse outcome of newspapers as personal vanity projects for out of touch billionaires.
  
  The idea is to stifle another well-established (though pro-establishment) voice of independent journalism.
- Hell, yes.

Wow, you mean he was an enormous sack of shit the whole time??

Maybe it's time for people to start submitting Opinion pieces detailing how we can use the free market to make companies regret discontinuing their DEI programs or Pride merchandise, or telling how bodily autonomy and control over one's reproductive equipment is a central pillar of personal liberty.
Editing to add: in the event your submission is rejected, consider adding an opener such as: "This article was rejected by The Washington Post despite meeting their criteria of focus on the free market (or personal liberty)." And then submitting it to one or several of their competitors. Even the ones that aren't any better, pitting their competitive instincts against their conservativism.
- Your mistake is assuming that these people actually care about "free" "markets", "personal liberty", etc.
  
  Oh I still think it would be interesting to try, and once rejected send the items to their competitors with the prompt "rejected by WaPo despite being about the topics they claim to support." After all, I can only cancel my subscription once, but making sure others are aware of this enshittification might lead them to cancel theirs as well. Whether it's by my item being published or by sparking a followup story by a competitor doesn't matter to me.
- You're right, it's time. Apes together strong.

What a pompous cunt.
Washington Post was one of the few marginally respectable journalist organizations remaining. It's a sad day for the freedom of the press.
- Washington Post was one of the few marginally respectable journalist organizations remaining.
  lol
  
  marginally
  Maybe try looking up this word in a dictionary, it seems like you don't understand what it means.
  What contemporary paragon of journalistic integrity do you subscribe to, if I may ask? Which organization is more respectable than WP?

We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: 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.
Just dragging this newspaper into the right wing muck at full speed now
I’m confident that free markets and personal liberties are right for America. I also believe these viewpoints are underserved in the current market of ideas and news opinion. I’m excited for us together to fill that void.
"Market of ideas" but you're only allowed to say what I like

Ah yes, the "personal liberty" to just accumulate wealth without limits or taxation because that is a "free market". Never mind Amazon drives on roads built with federal dollars—they are a job creator and everyone should lick their boots for that.

Someone assassinate this guy, please
- You can assassinate a capitalist but you can't assassinate capitalism.
- All billionaires plz. There's not a single good one out there.

Sounds like he wants more direct control.

Is he trying to "get out in front of this story" like he did with the photos of him having an affair? Has anyone heard from David Shipley what happened?

I find it important that he writes, that freedom of individuals and markets is important because it is without coercion.
To then go on and write that he tried to coerce his editor to accept the change with a "hell yes" or basically resign. This is coercion. Doesn't he see this? Is the irony lost on him?
- I’m confident that free markets and personal liberties are right for America. I also believe these viewpoints are underserved in the current market of ideas and news opinion.
  He doesn't give a fuck about whether his statements reflect reality at all, he only cares that his statements push reality towards being like how he thinks it ought to be, with him in charge and us under his thumb

"Democracy dies in darkness"
Honestly, the whole paper should just be entirely blacked out.

I’m writing to let you know about a change coming to our opinion pages.
We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: 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.
Mmm. Well, I'll take a look at their editorials, see where this is going. I don't have a problem with personal liberties and free markets, but there can be baggage that comes with that.
- I don’t have a problem with personal liberties and free markets
  The way Bezos uses those terms, they don't mean what you might think they mean.