【中美创新时报2025 年 2 月 26 日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）《华盛顿邮报》老板杰夫·贝索斯周三宣布该报观点版块将发生重大转变，称现在将倡导“个人自由和自由市场”，不会发表反对这些话题的观点。《华盛顿邮报》观点版编辑大卫·希普利在试图说服杰夫·贝索斯重新考虑新方向后辞职。《纽约时报》记者本杰明·穆林（Benjamin Mullin）对此作了下述详细报道。
贝佐斯表示，该版块的主编大卫·希普利 (David Shipley) 将因这一变动而离开该报。
“我来自美国，为美国而生，我为此感到自豪，”贝佐斯说。“我们的国家不是靠着一成不变才取得今天的成就。美国的成功很大程度上得益于经济领域和其他领域的自由。自由是道德的——它最大限度地减少了胁迫——也是实用的；它推动了创造力、发明和繁荣。”
贝佐斯在便条中说，他曾问过希普利是否想留在《华盛顿邮报》，希普利拒绝了。
“我向他建议，如果答案不是‘当然愿意’，那么就必须是‘不’，”贝佐斯写道。
在给评论员的便条中，希普利表示他决定辞职，“是经过深思熟虑后，我才能在我热爱的职业中取得最佳进展。”
希普利写道：“我将永远感谢有机会与一群观点记者一起工作，他们对强有力、创新、报道性评论的承诺每天都激励着我。”
贝索斯决定限制《华盛顿邮报》观点版面的观点范围，这与该报数十年来的评论和批评方式大相径庭。在希普利和他的前任弗雷德·海亚特的领导下，《华盛顿邮报》发表了来自左翼和右翼的各种观点，包括大卫·伊格内修斯和露丝·马库斯等自由派坚定派，以及乔治·威尔和查尔斯·克劳瑟默等保守派的声音。
《华盛顿邮报》观点版面的新方向似乎是该报的右倾。贝索斯的新焦点呼应了《华尔街日报》保守派观点版面长期以来的非正式标语：“自由市场，自由人民。”
《华盛顿邮报》首席执行官威尔·刘易斯 (Will Lewis) 在给员工的备忘录中表示，对观点版块的改变“不是为了偏袒任何政党”。
“这是为了明确我们作为报纸的立场，”刘易斯先生写道。“这样做是成为全美和所有美国人的首要新闻出版物的关键部分。”
刘易斯先生在他的备忘录中表示，《华盛顿邮报》将任命希普利先生的继任者，并将安排临时编辑。
《华盛顿邮报》执行编辑马特·默里 (Matt Murray) 在给员工的备忘录中表示，这些变化只会影响观点版块，不会改变新闻编辑室的使命“追求无所畏惧、无所偏袒的引人入胜、有影响力的新闻报道”。
在贝佐斯先生、刘易斯先生和希普利先生进行了一周的对话后，宣布了观点版块方向的改变。据两位了解讨论情况的人士称，今年 1 月，刘易斯向希普利发送了一份备忘录，概述了贝索斯对评论版的新愿景。
知情人士称，希普利对此表示，出于多种原因，他对贝索斯的新方法持保留态度。他的主要顾虑包括：《华盛顿邮报》对评论的普世态度使其报道独一无二且有价值，而每天发布一个包含狭隘观点的高质量文章的版块可能具有挑战性。
在离职前的几周里，希普利建议做出妥协，以纳入贝索斯的方法，同时确保《华盛顿邮报》的评论版仍能发表各种观点。据两位知情人士称，最后，希普利告诉报纸的所有者，他认为贝索斯的决定对《华盛顿邮报》或对他自己来说都不正确。
周三的声明立即引起了《华盛顿邮报》评论和新闻工作人员的公开反对。 《华盛顿邮报》首席经济记者杰夫·斯坦称，这是对《华盛顿邮报》评论团队的“大规模侵犯”，明确表示“异议观点不会在报纸上发表或被容忍”。
“我还没有感觉到我的新闻报道受到侵犯，但如果贝索斯试图干涉新闻报道，我将立即辞职并告知你们，”斯坦在 X 上写道。
周三上午，希普利与评论部门员工举行了一次情绪激动的会议，会议中，《华盛顿邮报》的不满情绪变得明显。据两位知情人士透露，在一小时的时间里，希普利回答了员工的问题，他们对事态的突然转变感到震惊和震惊。
在会议期间，希普利表示，他无法确切地告诉员工《华盛顿邮报》评论版的未来会怎样，并补充说，他感谢贝索斯的“直言不讳”。
据两位知情人士透露，希普利表示：“他认为，有重点的报道是实现差异化的道路。”
希普利的离职是过去一年来《华盛顿邮报》一系列动荡举措中的最新一次。 10 月，在贝索斯结束《华盛顿邮报》支持总统候选人的传统后，几名《华盛顿邮报》观点版工作人员谴责了这一决定。数千人取消了订阅，迫使《华盛顿邮报》采取“赢回”策略，将他们重新吸引为付费客户。
目前尚不清楚这些突然的变化将如何影响观点版的现任员工，其中一些员工以拥护进步观点而闻名。包括詹妮弗·鲁宾 (Jennifer Rubin) 在内的一些知名自由派观点记者已在近几个月离开了该报。《华盛顿邮报》的观点漫画家安·特尔内斯 (Ann Telnaes) 表示，她将于 1 月辞职，此前她的一幅批评贝索斯的漫画被删除。
希普利先生是一位资深的观点编辑，曾在《纽约时报》和彭博观点等机构工作过。自 2022 年加入《华盛顿邮报》以来，该报已获得两项普利策奖和两项勒布奖。
凯蒂·罗伯逊 (Katie Robertson) 为本文进行了撰稿。
题图：大卫·希普利身穿正装衬衫和带图案的领带，站在新闻编辑室中间微笑。《华盛顿邮报》观点版编辑大卫·希普利辞职，因为该版块的关注点正在缩小，以捍卫“个人自由和自由市场”。图片来源：Jabin Botsford/华盛顿邮报，通过盖蒂图片社
附原英文报道：
Bezos Orders Washington Post Opinion Section to Embrace ‘Personal Liberties and Free Markets’
David Shipley, The Post’s opinion editor, is resigning after trying to persuade Jeff Bezos to reconsider the new direction.
David Shipley, wearing a dress shirt and a patterned tie, in the middle of a newsroom smiling.
David Shipley, The Washington Post’s opinion editor, is stepping down amid a narrowing of the section’s focus to defend “personal liberties and free markets.”Credit…Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post, via Getty Images
By Benjamin Mullin
Feb. 26, 2025
Jeff Bezos, the owner of The Washington Post, announced a major shift to the newspaper’s opinion section on Wednesday, saying it would now advocate “personal liberties and free markets” and not publish opposing viewpoints on those topics.
Mr. Bezos said the section’s editor, David Shipley, was leaving the paper in response to the change.
“I am of America and for America, and proud to be so,” Mr. Bezos said. “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.”
In his note, Mr. Bezos said that he had asked Mr. Shipley whether he wanted to stay at The Post, and that Mr. Shipley had declined.
“I suggested to him that if the answer wasn’t ‘hell yes,’ then it had to be ‘no,’” Mr. Bezos wrote.
In a note to the opinion staff, Mr. Shipley said he had decided to step down “after reflection on how I can best move forward in the profession I love.”
“I will always be thankful for the opportunity I was given to work alongside a team of opinion journalists whose commitment to strong, innovative, reported commentary inspired me every day,” Mr. Shipley wrote.
Mr. Bezos’ decision to curtail the scope of views on The Post’s opinion pages is a major departure from the newspaper’s decades-long approach to commentary and criticism. Under Mr. Shipley and his predecessor, Fred Hiatt, The Post has published a wide variety of views from the left and the right, including liberal stalwarts like David Ignatius and Ruth Marcus and conservative voices like George Will and Charles Krauthammer.
The new direction envisioned for The Post’s opinion section appears to be a rightward shift for the paper. Mr. Bezos’ new focus echoes what has long been the informal tagline of The Wall Street Journal’s conservative opinion pages: “Free markets, free people.”
Will Lewis, The Post’s chief executive, said in a memo to staff that changes to the opinion section were “not about siding with any political party.”
“This is about being crystal clear about what we stand for as a newspaper,” Mr. Lewis wrote. “Doing this is a critical part of serving as a premier news publication across America and for all Americans.”
In his note, Mr. Lewis said that The Post would be naming a replacement for Mr. Shipley and that he would make arrangements for an interim editor.
Matt Murray, The Post’s executive editor, said in a memo to employees that the changes would affect the opinion section only and not change the newsroom’s mission “to pursue engaging, impactful journalism without fear or favor.”
The opinion page’s change in direction was announced after a weekslong dialogue among Mr. Bezos, Mr. Lewis and Mr. Shipley. In January, Mr. Lewis sent a memo to Mr. Shipley summarizing Mr. Bezos’ new vision for the opinion section, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions.
In response, Mr. Shipley expressed reservations about Mr. Bezos’ new approach for a variety of reasons, the people said. Among his misgivings: The Post’s ecumenical approach to commentary made the coverage unique and valuable, and putting out a daily section with quality writing on a narrower set of views could be challenging.
In the weeks leading up to his exit, Mr. Shipley suggested compromises to incorporate Mr. Bezos’ approach but also ensure that The Post’s opinion section could still publish a variety of viewpoints. In the end, Mr. Shipley told the owner of the newspaper that he didn’t think Mr. Bezos’ decision was the right one for The Post, or for him, according to the two people.
Wednesday’s announcement led to immediate and public pushback from members of The Post’s opinion and news staff. Jeff Stein, The Post’s chief economics reporter, called it a “massive encroachment” on The Post’s opinion staff that made clear “dissenting views will not be published or tolerated there.”
“I still have not felt encroachment on my journalism on the news side of coverage, but if Bezos tries interfering with the news side I will be quitting immediately and letting you know,” Mr. Stein wrote on X.
The discontent at The Post became clear during an emotional meeting held by Mr. Shipley with the opinion staff Wednesday morning. Over the course of an hour, Mr. Shipley fielded questions from his employees, who were shocked and stunned at the sudden turn of events, according to two people with knowledge of the talks.
During the meeting, Mr. Shipley said he couldn’t tell employees what the future of The Post’s opinion section would be for sure, adding that he was grateful to Mr. Bezos for “being forthright.”
“A focused report is the one that he thinks is the road to differentiation,” Mr. Shipley said, according to the two people.
Mr. Shipley’s departure is the latest in a series of destabilizing moves to rock The Post in the past year. In October, after Mr. Bezos ended The Post’s tradition of endorsing presidential candidates, several Post opinion staff members decried the decision. Thousands of people canceled their subscriptions, forcing The Post to adopt a “win-back” strategy to bring them back as paying customers.
It was not immediately clear how the abrupt changes would affect the current staff of the opinion section, some of whom are known for espousing progressive views. Some well-known liberal opinion journalists, including Jennifer Rubin, have already left the newspaper in recent months. Ann Telnaes, The Post’s opinion cartoonist, said she was quitting the newspaper in January after one of her cartoons critical of Mr. Bezos was killed.
Mr. Shipley is a veteran opinion editor with experience at organizations including The New York Times and Bloomberg Opinion. Since he joined The Washington Post in 2022, the newspaper has won two Pulitzer Prizes and two Loeb Awards.
Katie Robertson contributed reporting.
