Turmoil Is Bubbling and Flooding All Over K Street NW

The storied, “Bible of the Beltway”, Washington Post is making headlines again. This time, the billionaire owner, Jeff Bezos, is looking for a new editorial page editor.

 

He has been, since the summer, moving the paper's editorial opinion from its long history of anti-Republican positions

 to one which engaged a more moderate, center-leaning viewpoint, which started by NOT endorsing Kamala Harris in the last election. That action accounted for mass resignations in protest for squashing that endorsement.

His latest move, as reported in the New York Post,  is to change the publication’s opinion pages to better reflect American values like “personal liberties" and “free markets”, leading the section’s editor, David Shipley, to quit. He said he offered Opinion Editor David Shipley 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 wrote in a lengthy post on X about the “significant change” in direction.

“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.”

David Shipley is a one-time speechwriter for President Bill Clinton and served in the Clinton administration as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Presidential Speechwriter. He also had stints at the New York Times, the New Republic and Bloomberg.

Since Bezos has found his new "direction", the paper has lost over 250,000 digital subscribers. In addition, last month, more than 400 staffers penned a letter to Bezos seeking clarity on the newspaper’s direction, expressing concerns over recent leadership changes and editorial decisions.

Aahhh, yes. Turmoil is bubbling all over in the newsroom. And is running out the door, flooding K Street NW, faster than a tsunami on the eastern shores of the Chesapeake.

But Jeff is the Boss and what the Boss wants, he usually gets. No one is being forced to stay.

He obviously believes this when he says, “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.”

And anyone who stays, will be signing on to this new outlook.