Re-shaping The Discussion

It appears that elfin delivery magnate and newspaper dilettante Jeff Bezos saw fellow billionaire and serial ass-fez Elon Musk’s attempts to trample institutions and antagonize copious numbers of people and thought: Why should he have all the fun? 

Bezos continued his Solitaire Jenga of the Washington Post with a memo to staffers outlining an editorial shift that sent shock waves through the newsroom and beyond. He said the Post’s opinion pages will write every day “in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets.” 

On its face, it’s a cheerleader call-to-arms. After all, who’s against personal liberty and free markets? (the Bolsheviks in the audience may want to sit this one out) Read more closely, however, and it’s a vague framework with more questions than answers and a fundamental misread of society and the role of newspapers. It’s the sort of memo written by someone whose wealth insulates them from the day-to-day and who builds a rocket ship for tourist junkets by other rich thrill-seekers. 

Here’s the full Bezos:

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 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 (Editorial Page Editor) 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 opinion. I’m excited for us together to fill that void.

We live in a time when some have more liberty and are more free than others, the levels of which are often determined by money and race and class structure. In a society that’s increasingly gamed toward the wealthy and with a yawning income inequality gap, free markets ain’t exactly free for everybody. If an exercise of “personal liberty” offends or harms someone or some group, is that fair game or off limits for the Post editorial board? Do “free markets” include polluters and sweatshops where apparel seamstresses and shoemakers provide cheap goods without a squawk about hours and wages? How about corporate subsidies? Since when is free money part of free markets? Does Bezos, who’s made gazillions as Amazon honcho, want this new emphasis on personal liberties and free markets to champion everyone? Unclear, though his track record suggests not. 

Remember that the Federal Trade Commission and 17 state attorneys general sued Amazon in Sept. 2023, alleging monopolist and unfair business practices. The suit said that Amazon stifled if not squashed competition in multiple ways, manipulated prices and overcharged businesses, all while keeping wages criminally low and labeling many employees as gig workers to limit compensation and benefits. In the hands of the ultra-wealthy, phrases such as “personal liberty” and “free markets” are less aspirational and more license that translates to: “I get to do what I want.” For Bezos to justify the editorial shift by flippantly saying that the internet now does the job that newspapers did in the past is both tone-deaf and inaccurate. 

Sure, you can find all the contrarian takes you like on the interwebs. Few of them come with the heft and credibility of one of the nation’s most recognized, if increasingly self-immolating, newspapers. This is what happens when a newspaper becomes a possession rather than a public trust. Newspapers are supposed to speak truth to power – comfort the afflicted, afflict the comfortable, and all that; don’t pair the As and Cs. They have a responsibility to readers and to their communities, and should not be subject to the whims of the owner (your citation of William Randolph Hearst and Rupert Murdoch is so noted). 

You might recall that Bezos torqued off plenty of people inside and outside the Post last fall when he pulled an editorial endorsing Kamala Harris for President. He reasoned that presidential endorsements are outdated, unlikely to sway public opinion and demonstrate bias. In the aftermath of that decision, the paper lost a reported 250,000 digital subscribers. Does Bezos think going all-in on personal liberties and free markets will suddenly motivate Fox News viewers and Wall Street Journal subscribers to flock to the Post? Or will it make up for whatever the fallout is after this announcement? Doubtful. 

The man’s not stupid. The likely conclusion is that he made a calculation and is willing to follow through. He believes that he’s landed on a mission and now has a powerful platform to advocate for it. And he has money to burn, which not only entitles but blinds him. 

The last graf of Bezos’s memo is also a tell. The idea that free markets and personal liberties are “underserved” in the present news and opinion landscape is laughable. Look no further than the current occupant of the Oval Office and his inauguration, where billionaires and CEOs had better seats than Cabinet appointments, if you want a read on the impact of free markets and personal liberties. Look at the popularity of Fox News and the growing reach of Sinclair Broadcasting and its greasy affiliates and the aforementioned Wall Street Journal. Look at the consolidation of media and entertainment companies by corporate interests. 

Newspapers have been snapped up by hedge funds and vulture capitalists, who aren’t exactly going Marx and Engels on the editorial pages. Heck, today’s conservative movement and its mouthpieces have so glorified capitalism and the pursuit of wealth that any mention of government regulation or more equitable taxation is demonized as anti-business and anti-freedom and a bobsled run to communism. No, what Bezos and his ten- and eleven-figure bros want is validation. For them, America’s greatness isn’t as an idea but as a vehicle for extraction. Money isn’t enough. They all have plenty of that anyway. They want to hear that it’s good and right and noble to accumulate and acquire, that they’re the richest and smartest and bestest boys in the whole wide world. A newspaper with national cachet banging the drum every day is a swell addition to the club. Your move, Elon.