A legendary former editor of The Washington Post tore into “craven” Jeff Bezos after the newspaper’s billionaire owner limited what its opinion pages can cover.
Marty Baron, who was editor of The Post from 2012 until his retirement four years ago, accused the Amazon tycoon of being “fearful” of President Donald Trump.
Bezos prompted a newsroom backlash after announcing the editorial section would move away from its traditional broad focus and instead concentrate on “personal liberties and free markets.”
He added that “viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.”
In response, the paper’s top opinion editor, David Shipley, quit.
The seismic shift comes as America’s big tech companies cozy up to Trump with an eye toward avoiding retaliation from the vengeful president.
In a memo to staff, Will Lewis, The Post’s chief executive, reportedly said the changes were “not about siding with any political party.”
But Baron sees a clear political motivation.
“It’s craven,” he told Zeteo. “He’s basically fearful of Trump. He has decided that, as timid and tepid as the editorials have been, they’ve been too tough on Trump.”
Baron added Bezos wants an opinion page with “one point of view.”
He said, “It’s a Post that’s not going to be for all of America. At a time when we’re talking about freedom and democracy, he’s saying there will not be freedom and liberty on our own pages.”
Baron continued that if there’s even a hint of Bezos meddling with the newsroom, which operates independently of the opinion pages, then The Post “will lose everything — all its credibility.”
The move is the latest in a series of changes brought in by Bezos, who bought the storied newspaper in 2013, that critics say make a mockery of the outlet’s motto, “Democracy Dies in Darkness.”
Last year, The Post ended its tradition of endorsing presidential nominees, which led to a hemorrhaging of subscribers.
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In January, cartoonist Ann Telnaes quit after an editor rejected her sketch of Bezos and other media executives bowing before Trump.
Fellow billionaire and Trump aide Elon Musk celebrated the latest shift announced Wednesday, writing on X, formerly Twitter, “Bravo, Jeff Bezos!”
“This is what Oligarch ownership of the media looks like,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) posted on X soon after. “The second-richest guy in the world, Bezos, owns The Washington Post. He has now declared that the editorial page of that paper is going Trump right-wing. Surprise, Mr. Musk agrees. We must support independent media.”