WaPo Embraces Free Minds and Free Markets

"I'm confident that free markets and personal liberties are right for America," wrote Bezos.

Amazon CEO and The Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos made a startling announcement on Wednesday: The opinion pages of his newspaper will adopt a new editorial mission of defending "two pillars: personal liberties and free markets."

Hey, that's our job!

Indeed, if the new WaPo slogan sounds familiar to readers of Reason, that's because Reason has long described itself as the magazine of "free minds and free markets." The similarity was not lost on social media users, several of whom noted that Bezos would be bringing WaPo into ideological alignment with an already existing media brand.

WaPo today: pic.twitter.com/yzTlEXPHza

— Ryan Juliano (@rlj_law) February 26, 2025

Another news outlet expressing an interest in promoting civil liberties and economic freedom? Great! The more the merrier. Freedom, after all, does not suffer from a lack of enemies within the mainstream media. News coverage from a progressive and even ostensibly neutral bent often focuses on, say, the purported harms of making any cuts to bloated government; see, for instance, a recent news story in The Washington Post that explained how devastating staffing reductions mandated by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) had made it impossible to unlock the public restrooms at Yosemite National Park. A news publication with a libertarian-friendly mission, on the other hand, might have asked whether the government bureaucracy within the National Park Service was intentionally starting with the most painful cuts of all in order to sap public enthusiasm for the cause of limiting government—something Georgetown University law professor Randy Barnett described as "malicious compliance" in a recent interview on Reason's Just Asking Questions.

But back to Bezos. It's important to note that this declaration only pertains to the paper's opinion pages: News coverage will remain unchanged. Still, the new mandate for the opinion section is significant, and has already resulted in the departure of opinion editor David Shipley.

"I offered David Shipley, whom I greatly admire, the opportunity to lead this new chapter," Bezos explained in a memo to staff. "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."

Bezos made clear, however, that it's full steam ahead.

"I'm confident that free markets and personal liberties are right for America," wrote Bezos. "I also believe these viewpoints are underserved in the current market of ideas and news opinion. I'm excited for us together to fill that void."

I shared this note with the Washington Post team this morning:

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 defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets. We'll cover other topics too…

— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) February 26, 2025

Critics of this move perceived it to be an incursion into the newspaper's editorial autonomy, though Bezos is the owner, of course, and is ultimately well within his rights to direct coverage however he sees fit. Additionally, there's a political valence to all of this: Bezos attended President Donald Trump's inauguration alongside other tech CEOs, such as Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Google's Sundar Pichai, and Apple's Tim Cook. The perception is that the tech world has come to tolerate Trump—if not embrace him outright. Cynics will undoubtedly read Bezos's new mandate as an implicit pivot to the right, though it's not true that defending "personal liberties and free markets" necessitates joining MAGA or the Republican Party. Many of Trump's economic proposals, including his embrace of tariffs, explicitly contradict free market ethos, and the GOP's social policies are frequently at odds with the libertarian mindset.

 

This Week on Free Media

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Comments

[Longtobefree]

He is lying.

[MWAocdoc]

Even if he's not lying, I suspect he will get "malicious compliance" from his staff, defined as "willfully providing a compliant but inferior product" - but I agree with your skepticism here. I believe a graduate student at the University of Chicago pioneered a tool to analyze media bias using "hot button" word counts and column inches devoted to various points of view in published articles which would be very useful to compare "Before Bezos Awakening" with "Post Bezos Awakening" articles. It's also more than a little coincidental that he made this dramatic announcement just AFTER Trump started his wrecking ball assault on entrenched socialist bureaucracy.

[Weigel's Cock Ring]

I see it as his last-ditch desperate move to try to keep the Post from continuing to hemorrhage money to the point where he decides to just shut it down. He tried pretty much every other idea they could come up with and they all failed!

[Marshal]

If that's the case it's doomed to fail. People on the right aren't going to forget who the paper employs in reporting positions and start snapping up subscriptions. The paper is overwhelmingly targeted to the left and even with the opinion pages changing that remains true.

I think he can't put up with crazy like Jen Rubin's column that 'it's a good thing if we're less free'. If you're making money on crazy that's one thing. But these batshit crazy assertions just kill credibility to anyone not on the far left. Using his asset to virtue-signal your political reliability is offensive to most business owners. Most of these people haven't had a logical or original thought since Roger Staubach retired.

[rbike]

Hey, Rubin is a conservative. Sheesh, you always have to attack the far right.

[JFree]

He is part of the controlling oligarchy. And is most assuredly pissed that he bought the wrong media outlet to control narrative. WaPo is just old-fashioned compared to Twitter.

No surprise however that Reason writers will crawl up the butts of our media masters to chew on their dingleberries.

[MWAocdoc]

"Malicious compliance" equals "Passive-Aggressive" behavior? I'm going to post a meme on my FB page with a tryptic consisting of a WaPo cover announcing "Personal Liberties and Free Markets" with Reason's "Free Minds and Free Markets" followed by Skeptical Inquirer's cover with "WaPo Free Minds and Free Markets?????" Mark me "Skeptical" please ...

[nicmart]

Did you have any objection when Reason put uber-drug warrior Sally Satel on the cover and later did a feature interview with her? How about when Tuccille said it was a good idea for mental health professionals to show up before the police in specified situations? People have no right to resist mental health agents as they might the police. (In the heyday of libertarianism this was characterized as "We're from the government and we're here to help.)

[Roberta]

Satel may be an uber warrior in some sense, but overall she's been great on drugs autonomy issues. OK, so she's at the "therapeutic" end of the spectrum on the panel at libertarian events, but that makes her an uber drug warrior like it makes a fat celebrity who's lost a few pounds out to have anorexia nervosa. Satel is just the type we need to sell the Establishment on liberalizing drug policies.

And when you consider the stories reported on here about the mayhem inflicted by cops as first responders, Tooch, Jr.'s suggestion of mental health pros running point is very sensible.

[tracerv]

You just know noted philanthropist MacKenzie Scott gives away a billion everytime she see those tits.

Suck it giraffe.

[sarcasmic]

Many of Trump's economic proposals, including his embrace of tariffs, explicitly contradict free market ethos, and the GOP's social policies are frequently at odds with the libertarian mindset.

That's so dumb. True libertarians understand that import taxes are the path to prosperity and that morality must be legislated.

[MWAocdoc]

Trump is a bloviator and ignoramus. Having said that, I still fully support the wrecking ball approach to the Federal socialist bureaucracy.

[VinniUSMC]

Try not being retarded, just once. Try.

[Quo Usque Tandem]

"You cannot discuss the ocean with a well frog."

[шинка]

I think they saw what it was like under Biden and were like, WTF more can Trump do to make it worse? They're finding out that he isn't making it worse for them. Why not throw the president a vig?

[Marshal]

Cynics will undoubtedly read Bezos's new mandate as an implicit pivot to the right, though it's not true that defending "personal liberties and free markets" necessitates joining MAGA or the Republican Party.

What you failed to point out though is that left wingers believe this is true. Consider the implications of this given how adamantly opposed to MAGA and the Rep party they are even though, and perhaps because, they perceive liberty and freedom as far right values.

[MWAocdoc]

There is no implication of this. Left wingers had things pretty much their own way for the last ten decades, with a few rare blips on the right wing radar screen to slow down implementation of the progressive socialist agenda during that time. Even those few small temporary blips caused them to howl at the moon and scream bloody murder about the apocalyptic "end of Our Democracy" - so it should come as no surprise that they are howling at the moon, wearing the latest equivalent of pussy hats, marching in the streets carrying hand-painted and mass-printed art screen signs and painting their faces. The difference this time is that the right wing has stopped playing by the rules, borrowing a page out of the anarchist "by any means necessary" handbook by taking a chainsaw and wrecking ball of questionable "legality" to the heart of the socialist bureaucracy. It just might work!

[Marshal]

I don't think your historic view is correct. The current circumstance is different the left has moved so far left already. For example they now openly oppose free speech and not just support racial discrimination but claim anyone who doesn't is a racist. Keeping your own money isn't just that. it's taking it from them. So while they used to be able to support their positions using the language of freedom they no longer can, at least not credibly. Consider this when they are attacking others and you'll start recognizing it.

[MWAocdoc]

The left had already moved as far left as they could plausibly go with the excuse of "equal rights under the law." People of color, gays and women had achieved equal rights and there was nowhere left for the communists to go in the destruction of capitalism without pushing beyond equality into reparations, special privileges for protected classes and revisionist history, offending as many people as possible. This is what finally triggered the right-wing backlash and it is also what will prevent anyone from being able to prevent that backlash from going too far in the other direction.

[SRG2]

This is one of those, "the other side does all these nasty things but we're on the side of the angels" posts showing no historical awareness - or indeed, awareness of any kind.

[MWAocdoc]

Denied! My point was that leftist protest will have no significant impact on the current rightist backlash BECAUSE they are no longer playing by the rules.

[VULGAR MADMAN]

I wonder what could have happened to cause this change?

[VinniUSMC]

Well, now the Left hates Bezos. Is he literally Hitler?

[Chipper Chunked Chile Con Congress (ex NCW)]

Everyone that disagrees with them is Literally Hitler.

[JFree]

Interesting interview of Kara Swisher by Ezra Klein about the techbro political shift - specifically Elon Musk - but basically all of the ones who were on Trump's inaugural stage

[Ska]

The Journal also had an amusing op-ed on this today.

[Unable2Reason]

"might have asked whether the government bureaucracy within the National Park Service was intentionally starting with the most painful cuts of all in order to sap public enthusiasm for the cause of limiting government"

Ah, yes, Washington Monument Syndrome.......

[Quo Usque Tandem]

"...though it's not true that defending 'personal liberties and free markets' necessitates joining MAGA or the Republican Party."

I believe that the adherents of progressivism would disagree with that assumption; they've essentially come out that they do not embrace either of those principles; and of course to not agree with them means you are racist, misogynistic, and literally Hitler.

Right now the Democratic Party [cue from DNC meeting 2/1/25] are dug in to their default positions and more or less lying low and waiting for something terrible to inevitably happen to Trump and Company; I give it another month to 6 weeks before they get impatient and hit the streets. I also wouldn't discount the possibility of a coup, to restore us to "democracy" with the full support of MSM.

[SRG2]

I give it another month to 6 weeks before they get impatient and hit the streets. I also wouldn't discount the possibility of a coup, to restore us to "democracy" with the full support of MSM.

Such ideas are oft promoted by people hoping for pre-emptive government action against some alleged threat.

[Quo Usque Tandem]

In this case the notion is being promoted by a person who sees it as an actual possibility [make of it what you will, time will tell].

[Bowerick Wowbagger]

If they actually support free people in free markets, maybe they can teach this magazine to do so as well

[SRG2]

it's not true that defending "personal liberties and free markets" necessitates joining MAGA or the Republican Party.

No. If one is honest, it would mean leaving it if one were still a part.

[nicmart]

That was the old Reason. Today we have the Reason that puts drug warrior Sally "force is the best medicine" Satel on the cover.

[MWAocdoc]

This Sally Satel? "She received a kidney on March 4, 2006, from writer Virginia Postrel, after being diagnosed in 2004 with chronic kidney failure. She wrote an article in The New York Times chronicling her experience of searching for an organ donor." By the way, Hippocrates said "the natural healing force is the best medicine" not "force is the best medicine." Also, "The Force" too works in that context if you are a "Star Wars" fan ...

[Use the Schwartz]

"Personal freedom and free markets..."

Apparently this is as radical now as it was 250 years ago.

[XM]

Correct, Bezos isn't turning right. He is just slightly inching away from left wing lunacy and and embracing normalcy bizarrely derided as extremism.

You can say that for just about anyone who was "redpilled". Take Elon Musk's current position to 1999 or 2007. What's out of step? Did we acknowledge beings called XIR and XHE back then? The notion that borders shouldn't be overrun with thousands of migrants was right wing? Were people in favor of defunding the entire police department or allowing men in women's jail and locker rooms? I guarantee you Rick Wilson would have ripped the Obama admin if it was found that USAID under him funded trans animal research.

Just about everything labeled as "nationalist" or "right wing" now is just normal people doing normal things. Most nations deports noncitizens or demand ID for voting. People shouldn't go to jail over posting memes or misinfo. Asians shouldn't be excluded from colleges due to their race. So on.

Trump's ascendency showed people that there was a limit to how much the left can yell "racist" at normal people doing normal things. Elon took it one step further when he became that rare billionaire who decided to fight back when the left dehumanized him over siding with common sense, which to them is selling out to the right.

You don't think Bezos wasn't ticked off by lefties who wish for his death and misery online? The left was beaten by Trump like the French at Waterloo. The traditional media outlet that trumpeted their agenda is falling apart. They are showing signs of weakness, even on demos that were on their side. The powerful people the left kept on leash are beginning to notice and taking action.

[Weigel's Cock Ring]

Threatening Elon will go down as one of the absolute biggest mistakes in the history of the organized communist movement.

They clearly had absolutely no idea who they were fucking with. The average person today doesn't have even half of that guy's determination and work ethic.

[AT]

may I suggest @reason where we've been doing this since 1968?

Have you though?

[Chipper Chunked Chile Con Congress (ex NCW)]

WaPo Embraces Free Minds and Free Markets

When will Reason?

[AT]

Oh look at that, precipitous drop in subscriptions. Presumably from leftists, since who on the right would subscribe to that trashrag?

I guess left-wing America really doesn't care for free minds and free markets. They care about propaganda and being told what they want to hear.