Washington Post veteran says he left after 18 years over Bezos 'unapologetically patriotic' content mandate

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Independent

Monday 04 August 2025 22:49 BST


A veteran Washington Post columnist who quit the newspaper last month has spoken out against owner Jeff Bezos's Trump-friendly transformation of the opinion pages.

Jonathan Capehart, who joined the Post in 2007 and served on its editorial board until 2023, said on MSNBC on Friday that he had chosen to leave because the new demand for "unapologetically patriotic" articles left "[no] room for a voice like mine". He was among several high-profile journalists and editors who accepted a buyout offered by the Post's new CEO William Lewis to any employees who "do not feel aligned" with Bezos's new order.

The news comes after the Amazon founder and chairman decreed this February that the Post's opinion pages would now pivot to supporting "personal liberties and free markets", while excluding any contrary views.

Asked on air why he had chosen to leave, Capehart said that Bezos — who had a prominent seat at Donald Trump's inauguration and is currently the world's fourth richest person, according to Forbes — had the "right" to make those changes but that they left no space for his perspective.

Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/washington-post-bezos-jonathan-capehart-b2801843.html

[Irish_Dem]

1. American billionaires lining up to support Trump, a psychopath destroying the US.

A free democratic America is where the rich jackasses made all their dirty money.

[eringer]

2. I Pulled the Plug on the WaPo in June 2025

Even at 99 cents a month, I could not justify supporting the newspaper that purports that America Dies in Darkness when its owner is the one who flipped the light switch off. And I was a fifty plus year subscriber!

[dedl67]

7. 99 cents a month? When I was a delivery boy for the Post in the 1950s, it was $1.75 a month

The Post was a great newspaper then - anti-McCarthy and anti-Nixon (especially the Herblock cartoons).

The price of the Post went up from $1.75 to $1.95 per month while I was a delivery boy, and then I would occasionally get a 5 cent tip for delivering the Post to the door every morning. (I am not sure how you were paying 99 cents - maybe online?)

It's sad that the Post is no longer what it was.

[PatSeg]

8. Same here

And I keep seeing Washington Post ads on Facebook with offers for subscribers to come back. The comments are priceless. I take every opportunity to get my two cents in.

[Lonestarblue]

3. Another long-time Post writer, Dan Balz, recently announced his retirement.

I have cancelled my subscription but still have a few days of access. I looked at the top articles and opinions this morning and almost all are from yesterday. Some have been in the same top spot for days, and the Post now regularly recycles opinions that are weeks old. It saddens me to see a once-great paper turned into a rag.

[demmiblue]

4. And Carol Leonnig.

Good for her. She’s an outstanding reporter and the Washington Post is no longer worthy of her work.

— Mueller, She Wrote (@muellershewrote.com) 2025-08-05T01:34:52.414Z

[BumRushDaShow]

5. She had been on MSNBC a lot

so that was a natural jump.

A concern is with the ultimate direction of MSNBC though so hopefully she and the others have alternate/backup plans too.

[tanyev]

6. So how many billions of dollars has uber-patriot Jeff Bezos donated to reduce the national debt?

He can do it by Venmo or PayPal now.

😒

[hay rick]

9. Patriotic and honest are mutually exclusive these days. Sorry Jeff.