A Growing Exodus of Talent at the Washington Post
The Washington Post has been experiencing a significant exodus of high-profile editorial talent as it restructures its opinion section to focus exclusively on “personal liberties and free markets.” This shift has led to several prominent figures leaving the paper, including Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Jonathan Capehart, who recently accepted a buyout.
Capehart’s departure comes just days after longtime Post reporter and writer Philip Bump announced that he had also accepted a buyout and written his last column. This followed the paper’s CEO, Will Lewis, issuing an ultimatum to staff members, urging them to leave if they did not feel aligned with the company’s new direction.
According to reports, Capehart, who was a member of the Post’s editorial board until 2023, ended his 18-year tenure with the paper this week after taking a buyout through the company’s voluntary separation program. Despite his departure, Capehart will continue to co-host MSNBC’s The Weekend and serve as a political analyst for PBS.
The Washington Post has seen a wave of resignations since late last year when the paper’s owner, Jeff Bezos, blocked the editorial board’s planned endorsement of Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. This move, along with Bezos’ growing alignment with Trump, resulted in a loss of hundreds of thousands of subscribers and the resignation of several editorial board members.
Internal turmoil at the paper escalated in February when Bezos introduced a new mandate for the Post’s opinion pages, leading to the resignation of the section’s top editor. In a memo to staff, Bezos stated, “We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets.” He added that other topics would be covered, but viewpoints opposing these pillars would be left to others.
Since then, several veteran journalists have resigned, citing the new opinion directive and editorial restrictions. Ruth Marcus, who had been with the paper since 1984, resigned in March after her column criticizing Bezos’ edict was declined for publication. Similarly, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Eugene Robinson, who had worked for the paper since 1980, announced his retirement from the outlet due to the significant shift in the opinion section’s mandate.
Longtime cartoonist Ann Telnaes quit earlier this year after her cartoon mocking media titans, including Bezos, bending the knee to Trump was rejected by her editor. She later won a Pulitzer Prize for her work.
Morale at the paper is at an all-time low, with Lewis described as being in a “state of hiding” by staff. In late May, executive editor Matt Murray revealed that the paper would offer a voluntary separation program for news employees with at least 10 years of service, along with all members of the Post’s video department, copy desk, and sports section.
Weeks after intense speculation over who would take over the opinion section following David Shipley’s resignation, Bezos and Lewis appointed Adam O’Neal, despite his limited management experience at conservative outlet The Dispatch. In an introductory memo, O’Neal wrote, “We want those who stick with us to be genuinely enthusiastic about the new direction and focus.”
Lewis reiterated in a letter to the newsroom that those not fully on board with Bezos’ edict should consider taking the money and running. “As we continue in this new direction, I want to ask those who do not feel aligned with the company’s plan to reflect on that,” he noted.
Amid the buyout push and the new direction of the paper’s opinion pages, more veteran journalists have joined the list of former Post staffers. Joe Davidson, who helmed the Federal Insider column for 17 years, quit in protest after one of his pieces was killed for being “too opinionated under an unwritten and inconsistently enforced policy.”
Philip Bump shared his latest column about authoritarians stepping in when “trust in institutions” crumbles, stating it was his last Post article. “I was offered and accepted a buyout,” he said. “To answer one possible next question, I’m not sure what’s next save taking some time off.”
As for Capehart, his decision to walk away from the Post comes two months after he revealed in his latest book what sparked his resignation from the paper’s editorial board in 2023. According to his book, Capehart had a heated disagreement with fellow editor Karan Tumulty over an op-ed that criticized then-President Joe Biden for calling Georgia’s voting laws “Jim Crow 2.0.” The incident led to internal recriminations at the paper, with Capehart’s book reportedly running afoul of the Post’s editorial guidelines around collegiality and rules restricting staff from publicly disclosing internal editorial conversations.
