The Internet is What It Takes to Protect the Public Interest: An Aftermath to the Editor’s Shock at the New York Times

It was a decision that caused fresh shock at the paper. After senior news editors raised concerns at a meeting Wednesday, Executive Editor Matt Murray reassured them that Bezos had given no indication that he wanted to interfere with news coverage, according to two people with direct knowledge. A person from the Post confirmed his comments.

Shipley did not respond to requests for comment. A person with knowledge of the situation says that Shipley told Bezos the new approach wouldn’t hold power to account.

Bezos wrote in a memo to staffers that he will be writing every day in support 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.”

Newspapers have included opposing views in their op-ed sections for years. Op-ed is an abbreviation for pieces that often conflict with a publisher’s editorial line. But Bezos characterized that practice as outdated.

Bezos said that in the past a local newspaper would have had an opinion section that was broad enough to cover all views. The internet is doing that job.

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At an hour-long meeting with opinion writers, Shipley said he did not know what lay ahead, according to an attendee who spoke on condition of anonymity because they did not have permission to speak publicly.

In the memo, Bezos explained his decision to staffers. “I am of America and for America, and proud to be so,” he wrote. “And a big part of America’s success has been freedom in the economic realm and everywhere else.”

Murray sent a memo to the newsroom explaining that the work of The Post’s newsroom remains unaffected and that they will continue to engage impactful journalism without fear or favor. (Murray and Bezos did not reply to requests for comment.)

David Maraniss is an associate editor of the Post, who wrote on Bluesky that he wouldn’t write for the paper again if Bezos owned it.

NPR spoke to six people with direct knowledge of events for this article. They were given the ability to speak without being identified because they weren’t allowed to speak about internal matters.

More recently, Bezos’ decision in October to kill the Harris editorial caused a furor inside and outside the paper, leading editorial writers to resign and 300,000 people to cancel their online subscriptions in a matter of days. (The Post says it has been able to win some subscribers back and garner some new subscribers in the opening weeks of Trump’s second term.)

The Wall Street Journal’s pro-markets pages have had the same policy for decades, according to Shipley. The decision not to make the endorsement public was the same as the decision not to publish it.

In his memo to staff, Bezos praised Shipley and wrote that he offered the editor the chance to lead the reformed sections. “I suggested to him if the answer wasn’t ‘hell yes,’ then it had to be ‘no,'” Bezos wrote.

The new administration has been covered by the Post. Bezos seems to have supported the president’s return to power. He paid $1 million to the inaugural fund. He and Lauren Snchez traveled to Mar-a-Lago to socialize with the Trumps. Bezos sat beside the president while he was sworn in for a second term.

Two Pulitzer Prizes have been won by Shipley’s section in the past two-and-a-half years. His standing was gravely weakened by Bezos’s recent decisions.

When Shipley decided to withhold a cartoon from the Pulitzer-winning staffer Ann Telnaes about Bezos from publication, he told colleagues he believed he was making a decision on the merits, not pulling his punches. The cartoon depicted Bezos abasing himself along with other tech titans before Trump.

According to a statement shared with NPR, not every editorial judgement is a reflection of a malign force. “My decision was guided by the fact that we had just published a column on the same topic as the cartoon and had already scheduled another column — this one a satire — for publication. The only bias was against repetition.”

The paper has bled veteran talent from both the opinion and news sides since the news broke about the killed editorial. Post journalists moved to other publications such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and CNN.

Will Lewis, the Post Publisher and Chief Executive, celebrated the change in direction on Wednesday. Lewis previously served for six years in the same role at the Journal, which is owned by Trump ally and conservative media magnate Rupert Murdoch. He has advocated for a similar approach at the Post.

Bezos hired Lewis, in significant part, due to his belief the British journalist could build better bridges to Trump and to conservatives. As well as serving Murdoch as an executive for a decade, Lewis was previously editor of the conservative Telegraph in the U.K. and later served as a consultant for Tory Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

I am so excited that the new clarity and transparency will come to life in the opinion section. Lewis had a note for staff. This is not about helping a political party. This is about being crystal clear about what we stand for as a newspaper. Doing this is a critical part of serving as a premier news publication across America and for all Americans.”

is a senior tech and policy editor focused on VR, online platforms, and free expression. Since 2001 Adi has covered video games, biohacking, and more for The Verge.

Patrick Soon-Shiong, the Los Angeles Times owner, reversed an editorial shift and endorsed Harris after blocking an endorsement as The Post changed under Bezos.

Fortunately, America is facing numerous urgent and timely questions that fit Bezos’ new, personally issued directive. Are major tech companies like Amazon monopolies that distort fair market competition, and should the US government pursue sweeping antitrust cases that could break them up? The administration led by Trump got a $1 million donation from Amazon and attended by Bezos, so will they try to censor the media by using its regulatory power? There are so many possibilities.