Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson announced he’s leaving the paper after 20 years in protest of opinion editorial decisions made by its billionaire owner, Jeff Bezos.
“I wanted to let you know that I’ve decided to leave The Post,” the liberal columnist wrote to his colleagues in an email Thursday first reported by The New York Times. “The announced ‘significant shift’ in our section’s mission has spurred me to decide that it’s time for my next chapter.”
That was a direct reference to Bezos’ announcement in February that The Post opinion pages would begin prioritizing pieces defending “personal liberties and free markets,” though Robinson refrained from naming the paper’s owner.Â
JEFF BEZOS ANNOUNCES BIG CHANGES TO WASHINGTON POST OPINION PAGE, TOP EDITOR STEPS DOWN
Billionaire Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos announced new changes to the Post opinion section. ((Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage) ERIC BARADAT/AFP via Getty Images)
“Our sincerest congratulations to beloved Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson on his retirement,” a spokesperson for The Washington Post told Fox News Digital in a statement. “For 45 years, his reporting and commentary spanned continents and beats, earning countless recognitions, including a Pulitzer Prize. Eugene’s strong perspective and impeccable integrity have regularly shaped our public discourse, cementing his legacy as a leading voice in American journalism.”
Robinson confirmed to Fox News Digital he is only retiring from The Post, not from journalism, and has yet to make any commitments regarding his next chapter.Â
Robinson, also an MSNBC analyst, joined The Post in 2005 and won a Pulitzer Prize in 2009 for commentary.Â
Bezos made headlines when he announced his paper was going to be “writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets” and that “viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.” That led to the ousting of The Post’s opinion editor David Shipley, who opposed Bezos’ new mission.
TOP WASHINGTON POST COLUMNIST LEAVES PAPER AFTER 40 YEARS AMID EDITORIAL SHAKEUP BY OWNER JEFF BEZOS
Liberal Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson announced he’s leaving the paper over the “significant shift” being implemented by Bezos. (FOX)
“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 said at the time.Â
Robinson wasn’t the only columnist to leave as a result of this change. Ruth Marcus, a 40-year veteran of the paper, left The Post last month after she penned a column criticizing Bezos’ decision that was spiked by her bosses.Â
“I stayed until I no longer could—until the newspaper’s owner, Jeff Bezos, issued an edict that the Post’s opinion offerings would henceforth concentrate on the twin pillars of ‘personal liberties and free markets,’ and, even more worrisome, that ‘viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.’ I stayed until the Post’s publisher, Will Lewis, killed a column I filed last week expressing my disagreement with this new direction. Lewis refused my request to meet,” Marcus wrote.
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Bezos said The Washington Post will promote “personal liberties and free markets” and that “viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.” (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
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Several other staffers quit The Post after Bezos halted the paper’s endorsement of then-Vice President Kamala Harris just days before the 2024 election.
