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** OPINION
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** Jeff Bezos threw more dirt on The Washington Post’s reputation
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Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, shown here at Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration in January. (Chip Somodevilla/Pool Photo via AP)

At this point, you have to ask: Is Jeff Bezos purposely trying to sabotage the reputation of The Washington Post?

Months after nixing an editorial board endorsement of Kamala Harris for president — and losing thousands of subscribers and a few respected journalists in the aftermath — Bezos made another startling decision Wednesday involving the paper’s opinion section.

As a result, well-respected journalist David Shipley has decided to step down as the Post’s opinion editor.

In a memo to staff posted on X ([link removed]) , Bezos wrote of the major change coming to the opinion section: “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.”

Bezos added, “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.”

Bezos said he greatly admires Shipley and offered him a chance to lead this new directive, but Shipley said no and stepped away. Bezos added, “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.”

Bezos closed by writing, “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.

The email sent shockwaves through the media industry.

The New York Times’ Benjamin Mullin wrote ([link removed]) , “Mr. Bezos’ decision to curtail the scope of views on The Post’s opinion pages is a major departure from the newspaper’s decades-long approach to commentary and criticism. Under Mr. Shipley and his predecessor, Fred Hiatt, The Post has published a wide variety of views from the left and the right, including liberal stalwarts like David Ignatius and Ruth Marcus and conservative voices like George Will and Charles Krauthammer. The new direction envisioned for The Post’s opinion section appears to be a rightward shift for the paper. Mr. Bezos’ new focus echoes what has long been the informal tagline of The Wall Street Journal’s conservative opinion pages: ‘Free markets, free people.’”

The New Republic’s Malcolm Ferguson wrote ([link removed]) , “This announcement is the culmination of Bezos’s blatant attempts to align the Post with the political party currently in power.” Ferguson added, “This decision has been met with glee from conservatives and shock and disgust from just about everyone else.”

In a statement ([link removed]) , former Washington Post executive editor Marty Baron, who worked for Bezos, said he was “sad and disgusted” by Bezos’ change.

Baron wrote, “It was only weeks ago that The Post described itself as providing coverage for ‘all of America.’ Now its opinion pages will be open to only some of America, those who think exactly as he does.”

Baron continued, “Bezos himself has done personal liberties a disservice by cravenly yielding to a president who shows no respect for liberty — one who aims to use the power of government to bully, threaten, punish and crush anyone who is not in his camp, especially the press.”

Then, Baron added, “There is no doubt in my mind that he is doing this out of fear of the consequences for his other business interests, Amazon (the source of his wealth) and Blue Origin (which represents his lifelong passion for space exploration). He has prioritized those commercial interests over The Post, and he is betraying The Post’s longstanding principles to do so.”

Matt Murray, executive editor of the Post, wrote a memo to the staff saying these new changes were only for the opinion section and would not affect the newsroom. He wrote the newsroom’s mission “to pursue engaging, impactful journalism without fear or favor” would remain intact.

There is no doubt in my mind that the superb newsroom staff will continue to do good and honest work. But you have to think that Bezos’ announcement, and the departure of Shipley, will further alienate staff, as well as many more readers who turn to the Post for strong coverage, particularly of Washington, D.C., and the White House.

Clearly, the Post is viewed differently than it was a year ago or even six months ago. Then again, with so much money, does Bezos even care that it appears he is bowing down to President Donald Trump and Republicans?

Post publisher and CEO Will Lewis said to staff in an email, “This is not about siding with any political party. This is about being crystal clear about what we stand for as a newspaper.”

But, clearly, those sentiments did not go over well with many, including from inside the Post.

Jeff Stein, the chief economics reporter at the Post, tweeted ([link removed]) , “Massive encroachment by Jeff Bezos into The Washington Post’s opinion section today - makes clear dissenting views will not be published or tolerated there. 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.”

Meanwhile, Shipley wrote in an email to staff that his decision to step down came “after reflection on how I can best move forward in the profession I love.” He added, “I will always be thankful for the opportunity I was given to work alongside a team of opinion journalists whose commitment to strong, innovative, reported commentary inspired me every day — and was affirmed by two Pulitzer Prizes and two Loeb Awards in two short years.”


** ‘It’s horrifying’
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In the latest episode of “The Poynter Report Podcast,” ([link removed]) recorded last week, I talked about Bezos and the Post with former longtime Post media writer Paul Farhi. This was before Wednesday’s news.

When I asked Farhi, who left the paper at the end of 2023, about what he had seen from the Post over the past several months, he didn’t hold back.

“I am now — because I no longer work there, no longer receive the paycheck — I’m free to say it’s horrifying. We — all the alumni, and there's an alumni chat group — trade impressions on a weekly, almost daily basis, and there’s nothing but, ‘Can you believe this going on?’ Because all of it is so disturbing and so contrary to what we, as Washington Post reporters, worked on, in my case for decades, for years. There’s a clear before and after here … and the after — it's a Washington Post we don't recognize, is what it basically comes down to. And you know, all of it would be maybe justifiable, or less horrifying, if it served the larger purpose of making the Washington Post more economically viable, but I don't see any evidence of that. Anything that they have done hasn't really made things better.”

Farhi said that “one of the most catastrophic things I've ever seen in all the history of The Washington Post” was Bezos’ decision to kill the Harris endorsement.”

Again, Farhi said this before Wednesday’s bombshell.

For a long time, Farhi said, Bezos was the ideal owner. He wrote checks and didn’t tell the Post how to spend the money. But that has clearly changed.

Farhi has lots more to say about the Post, so check out the podcast ([link removed]) .


** Tweet of the day
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This ([link removed]) , from former NBC News political director and former “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd: “Have folks realized yet that folks and corps with massive govt contracts are not to be trusted as owners of honest journalistic enterprises.”


** Making a statement
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President Donald Trump, during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Wednesday. (Pool via AP)

On Wednesday, one day after the stunning and unprecedented news ([link removed]) that the White House would decide which news outlets are included in the small press pool that covers the president, the three main wire services put out a joint statement.

Traditionally, the White House pool is for coverage of the president at events where the entire press corps cannot be accommodated. This includes inside the Oval Office, on Air Force One and other events. Up until Wednesday, the White House Correspondents’ Association was in charge of determining the pool. The pool typically included a member of the wire services.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said “legacy” media will still be included in the pool, but certainly the pools will ultimately be decided by Trump and his people — who could easily choose to ban any news organization they might not like or that isn’t giving
them the coverage they want. As we’ve seen, The Associated Press is already being shut out of the pool because they use the phrase “Gulf of Mexico” instead of Trump’s wish of the “Gulf of America.”

In fact, there was more on Wednesday. Reporters from HuffPost and Reuters were kicked out of the pool.

In response to all this news, AP executive editor Julie Pace, Bloomberg editor-in-chief John Micklethwait and Reuters editor-in-chief Alessandra Galloni put out a letter Wednesday.

It read as follows:

The three permanent wires in the White House pool, The Associated Press, Bloomberg News and Reuters, have long worked to ensure that accurate, fair and timely information about the presidency is communicated to a broad audience of all political persuasions, both in the United States and globally. Much of the White House coverage people see in their local news outlets, wherever they are in the world, comes from the wires.

It is essential in a democracy for the public to have access to news about their government from an independent, free press. We believe that any steps by the government to limit the number of wire services with access to the President threatens that principle. It also harms the spread of reliable information to people, communities, businesses and global financial markets that heavily depend on our reporting.

In a statement ([link removed]) after one of his reporters was banned from the pool, HuffPost editor-in-chief Whitney Snyder said, “HuffPost condemns this egregious violation of the First Amendment. Americans deserve fair and honest reporting on their president. The White House must stop this cowardly behavior and restore HuffPost’s place in the press pool immediately.”


** More reaction
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Because the White House is picking who is in the pools, White House Correspondents’ Association president Eugene Daniels says the public might not be able to trust the news that comes out of them. One assumes that’s because the pools might soon be made up of those who are, essentially, advocates for Trump, the MAGA movement and Republicans in general.

Appearing on MSNBC, Daniels said, “For years the WHCA had created a format for standards, length, accuracy for the American people that they could trust that those standards created by the folks that actually do the work were understood by everyone and you could trust the reports that were coming out of that. That can no longer be trusted, frankly. Because at the end of the day, these standards are going to be created by the folks that are being covered.”


** Worst post of the day
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Another day, another ugly threat on press freedoms from President Donald Trump. This is what he posted ([link removed]) on his Truth Social first thing Wednesday morning. Who knows what set this off?

Trump wrote:

“As a President who is being given credit for having the Best Opening Month of any President in history, quite naturally, here come the Fake books and stories with the so-called ‘anonymous,’ or ‘off the record,’ quotes. At some point I am going to sue some of these dishonest authors and book publishers, or even media in general, to find out whether or not these ‘anonymous sources’ even exist, which they largely do not. They are made up, defamatory fiction, and a big price should be paid for this blatant dishonesty. I’ll do it as a service to our Country. Who knows, maybe we will create some NICE NEW LAW!!!”

No telling what Trump means by “nice new law.” But it sounds disturbing and completely illegal. But in these times — with the current political balance of power, the vitriol against the media and Supreme Court makeup — anything seems possible.


** New book about an old Biden
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Former President Joe Biden, shown here in July 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Joe Biden is no longer president, but many are already looking forward to the May 20 release of a new book about him: “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.” ([link removed]) It was written by CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Axios correspondent Alex Thompson.

Penguin Press, the book’s publisher, said in a release, “What you will learn makes President Biden’s decision to run for reelection seem shockingly narcissistic, self-delusional, and reckless — a desperate bet that went bust — and part of a larger act of extended public deception that has few precedents.”

The release went on to say that Biden, “his family, and his senior aides were so convinced that only he could beat Trump again, they lied to themselves, allies, and the public about his condition and limitations.”

Tapper said in a statement, “Toni Morrison once said ‘If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.’ That’s what inspired this book: we wanted to know more about what we all just lived through. More than 200 interviews later, Alex and I have a much better idea. And soon you all will too.”

As CNN’s Brian Stelter noted ([link removed]) , Tapper had a unique perspective on this story. He was one of the moderators of Biden's disastrous presidential debate that led to widespread calls for him to drop out of the race.

Tapper and Thompson wrote in the book, “… what the world saw at Joe Biden’s one and only debate was not an anomaly — it was not a cold, it was not someone who was under or overprepared, it was not someone who was just a little tired. It was the natural result of an eighty-one-year-old man whose faculties had been diminishing for years.”


** Stay tuned
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Be sure to check out this newsletter and the Poynter website next Monday for something special. Poynter is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2025 and we think we have come up with a really cool way to mark the occasion.

We’ve been working on it for a while and will continue to work on it for the rest of 2025. You will not only enjoy it, but you can also help us with our special project throughout the rest of the year.

It all kicks off Monday. So be here or be square … you know what I mean.


** The end of ‘ESPN Daily’
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One of the podcasts that I listen to on a semi-regular basis is “ESPN Daily.” It’s pretty much a sports version of The New York Times’ podcast “The Daily.” A few times over the past couple of weeks, I’ve gone to listen to an episode only to find it said the most recent episode was Feb. 12. I assumed that the show was taking a short break during a slow spot on the sports calendar following the Super Bowl.

But, it turns out, the Feb. 12 episode was the last episode ever, ending a nearly 6-year run. It launched in 2019.

Host Clinton Yates confirmed the end on X when he was asked by a fan of the show. Yates tweeted ([link removed]) , “Unfortunately, the show is no longer. Really do appreciate all the support.”

The exchange flew under the radar until Sports Business Journal’s Austin Karp noticed it this week. Karp tweeted ([link removed]) , “Kind of missed this one. End of the ‘ESPN Daily’ podcast. Had been a go-to for me for years. From Mina Kimes to Pablo Torre to Clinton Yates (and a mix of other interim hosts), was a great and smart way to get things rolling.”

I second Karp’s thoughts. It was a well-produced and smart show that had a good bit of variety in the topics it covered, and it went deep on those topics.

The ending was sudden. I went back and listened to the final episode and it ended with Yates and his usual signoff: “Talk to you tomorrow, kiddos.”

Yates is still hosting his daily radio show for ESPN Radio.


** Media tidbits
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* The New York Time’s Zach Montague with “On X, Conservative Activists Find a Direct Pipeline to Musk’s Team.” ([link removed])
* The Associated Press’ David Bauder with “Not known for political coverage, Wired takes a leading role in tracking Elon Musk’s team.” ([link removed])
* Politico White House correspondent Eugene Daniels, who is president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, is leaving Politico to join MSNBC. He will co-host a weekend roundtable show.
* Semafor’s Max Tani with “Podcasting sees explosive growth on YouTube.” ([link removed])
* Variety’s Brian Steinberg with “CBS News Mulls Veteran Tom Cibrowski for Senior Role.” ([link removed])
* ESPN has re-signed studio host and reporter Laura Rutledge to a multi-year contract. Rutledge will continue hosting the daily show “NFL Live,” as well remaining on the broadcasting teams of the network’s coverage of The Masters, the NFL Draft, and various NFL and college football games.
* The Athletic’s Ben Burrows with “Australian radio host leaves role after ‘unacceptable’ comments on women’s national soccer team.” ([link removed])


** Hot type
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* Here’s an interesting read ([link removed]) for you. The National Football League Players Association came out with its report card of NFL teams for 2024. Players grade each team on such things as treatment of families, locker room, ownership, coach and a bunch of other categories.


** More resources for journalists
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* Gain a deeper understanding of Polarization in America and Christian Nationalism. Enroll now ([link removed]) .
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* Ditch work-life balance for a more sustainable approach. Sign up for this six-week email course ([link removed]) to discover the unique formula that helps you thrive.
* Get an AI ethics framework for your newsroom. Start here ([link removed]) .

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .
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