For many of the entrenched Washington journalists, they may have never thought a day would come when their comfortable positions would be challenged. Pictured: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. Photo Credit: Karoline Leavitt/X.
The recent announcement from Jeff Bezos, owner of the Washington Post, has set the Washington press in full panic mode. Bezos has no interest in continuing to lose money at the Post, a paper for which he paid $250 million in 2013. Last fall Bezos sent the first shot across the bow when he decided the Post would not endorse a presidential candidate for the first time since 1972, a practice it began in 1976 in response to Watergate. The second shot rang out on February 26th when Bezos posted this on X (formerly Twitter):
“I’m writing to let you know about a change coming to our opinion pages.
We are going to be writing every day in support and defence of two pillars: 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.
There was a time when a newspaper, especially one that was a local monopoly, might have seen it as a service to bring to the reader’s doorstep every morning a broad-based opinion section that sought to cover all views. Today, the internet does that job.
I am of America and for America, and proud to be so. Our country did not get here by being typical. And a big part of America’s success has been freedom in the economic realm and everywhere else. Freedom is ethical — it minimizes coercion — and practical — it drives creativity, invention, and prosperity.
I offered David Shipley, whom I greatly admire, 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.” 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. We’ll be searching for a new Opinion Editor to own this new direction.
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 opinions. I’m excited for us together to fill that void.”
For decades the dominant media decided how Americans would hear and read about the governing decisions being made in the Capital. When Ben Bradlee sat in the editor’s chair, there were no podcasters, social media influencers, or alternative news sources to point out he was best friends with President John F. Kennedy. Bradlee’s life story and the book he wrote about it, A Good Life (1995), point to the extraordinary experiences he had, the fine writer he was, and the obvious political leanings he held. As captain of the Post during the Watergate scandal, Bradlee demanded the evidence before he would print a story, but make no mistake about how badly he wanted to nail President Richard Nixon, (JFK’s rival for whom Bradlee held great personal animus). I seriously doubt any of his reporters questioned his and Katherine Graham’s (owner of the Post) desire to get the story right and to cover it from every angle. They obeyed his directives and searched for a good story to print. The columnists and editorials were in Bradlee’s wheelhouse. Reporters did not need to opine about what the owner and Editor were doing, just complete their assignments.
Over the past half-century, the dominant media has developed into a class of privileged elites. During the fall campaign, Trump and his team indicated that changes would be coming to the press pool. Why the press thinks they have an eternal lock on how things are covered at the White House speaks more to their entitlement than to anyone wanting to suppress their ability to report news. Peter Baker, a long-time New York Times reporter posted on X (Feb. 25) “Having served as a Moscow correspondent in the early days of [Vladimir] Putin’s reign, this reminds me of how the Kremlin took over its press pool and made sure that only compliant journalists were given access. The message is clear. Given that the White House has already kicked one news organization out of the pool because of coverage it does not like, it is making certain everyone else knows that the rest of us can be barred too if the president does not like our questions or stories.” Gibberish. Facing competition from other forms of reporting and having to deal with a president they enthusiastically opposed has caused many to react like Baker and cry about restraints being placed on the press.
On the Feb. 28 edition of Brooks and Capehart on PBS News Hour, David Brooks suggested Trump is trying to dismantle the idea of the press. Then went on to criticize Bezos saying, “…we’re not going to have an opinion section in the Washington Post that does not brook dissent, that’s just not journalism. They just don’t get it, some people. That’s what we do. That’s what democracy is. Your loyalty to democracy is higher than your loyalty to one ideology or another. And so the idea that we’re not, we have a major newspaper that doesn’t publish dissent, that can’t be.” Preposterous. These people have buried themselves so far in a silo they have no idea how silly they sound. They drowned Bezos in hundreds of millions of dollars lost with their lousy reporting and progressive editorials and then wonder why when he turns off the spigot.
While the supposed restraints have been put on the press, Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson announced the release of a new book in May called Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again. The Penguin Book publisher release said, “What you will learn makes President Biden’s decision to run for re-election seem shockingly narcissistic, self-delusional, and reckless — a desperate bet that went bust — and part of a larger act of extended public deception that has few precedents.” Biden, “his family, and his senior aides were so convinced that only he could beat Trump again, they lied to themselves, allies, and the public about his condition and limitations.” Beyond the fact Tapper often served as a foil to those who questioned Biden’s competency, how about a press, so complicit in wanting to defeat Donald Trump to save democracy, they become accomplices to an unprecedented cover-up of a presidential health crisis? What forced the press to decide they would not reveal what they knew was happening for the entire presidency of Joe Biden? This disgraceful chapter can only come to light when these preening journalists of the left understand the limits of hubris and prerogative.
Bezos has every right, as owner of the newspaper to look at the results of these reporters and their biased coverage, the damage they have done to his product, and the dishonour they have brought to objective reporting. In his estimation, a makeover is needed. If these reporters want to cry foul, make demands, and act wronged they know how to find the door. And the same group can also ask for a transfer out of Washington if they don’t like the new arrangements at the White House. Change has come to America and it never feels good when this shift causes personal discomfort. For many of the entrenched Washington journalists, they may have never thought a day would come when their comfortable positions would be challenged. They had better make some adjustments and quickly. Bezos has figured that out.
Enterprising individuals like to imprint their stamp on what they own. I suspect more changes are coming to an industry that for too long has been a one-party demesne. What a breath of fresh air it would be to see some of the big networks and newspapers start featuring anchors, reporters, writers and columnists who represent a spectrum of Americans. Diversity should not only refer to skin colour, creed, ethnic background, or gender. The cowering fear you see on the news or read on the internet coming from the inveterate corners of the establishment press speaks more to their dismay that diversity may also come in the form of opinions. As Bill Buckley, founder of National Review so aptly put it, “Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views.”
Dave Redekop is a retired elementary resource teacher who worked part-time at the St. Catharines Courthouse as a Registrar until being appointed Executive Director at Redeemer Bible Church in October 2023. He has worked on political campaigns since high school and attended university in South Carolina for five years, earning a Master’s in American History with a specialization in Civil Rights. Dave loves reading biographies.
