Washington Post announces big changes to opinion page
Donald Trump has sent a wave of panic through the media, removing some of the power they have over the White House briefing room.
Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and owner of the Washington Post, appears to be trying to appease Trump by making some big changes at his paper.
Credentials Revoked
The Trump administration made it quite clear that it was not playing games with the media this time around.
When AP refused to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, as Trump had declared, the AP had its access to the White House removed.
Julie Pace, AP’s senior vice president and executive editor, stated, “It is alarming that the Trump administration would punish AP for its independent journalism. Limiting our access to the Oval Office based on the content of AP’s speech not only severely impedes the public’s access to independent news, it plainly violates the First Amendment.”
Eugene Daniels, WHCA’s president, added, “The White House cannot dictate how news organizations report the news, nor should it penalize working journalists because it is unhappy with their editors’ decision.”
WHCA Power Taken Back
For decades, the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) has decided who is in the briefing room, but that just changed.
In another move to dial back the WHCA’s influence, the White House announced that it would be deciding who had credentials and who did not.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated, “It’s beyond time that the White House press operation reflects the media habits of the American people in 2025, not 1925. A select group of DC-based journalists should no longer have a monopoly over the privilege of press access at the White House.”
The administration has been adamant that it will open the briefing room to more alt-media, which is not going to sit well with Democrats or mainstream media outlets. I am glad to see alt-media get some respect, but at the same time, I think the solution was to open more seats in the briefing room, not alienate all mainstream media outlets, even though I despise most of them. My fear is that we will wind up with only pro-Trump publications that will slant all the news in favor of Trump. And my regular readers know that while I am a conservative, I believe in the truth over all else, which means I call everyone out, regardless of the letter after their names.
WaPo Changes Policy
The Washington Post had its fair share of controversies during the first Trump administration as well as sugar-coating the Biden administration, but that appears to be ready to change. Jeff Bezos announced some major changes at the paper in the opinions section, which led to the opinion sections editor stepping down.
Bezos stated, "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.”
Washington Post publisher and CEO William Lewis added, "Earlier today, our owner Jeff published a note explaining The Washington Post’s recalibrated content strategy for our opinion section. I want to thank him for clearly and succinctly spelling out what we stand for at The Washington Post, and I will be so very proud for The Post to be known for its two key pillars: our belief in free markets and personal liberties.”
Make no mistake about it, this is Bezos throwing up a white flag to the Trump administration hoping for peace. Don’t get too excited, though, as Bezos is merely protecting his investment. This will likely only last as long as there is a Republican in office, then he will go back to business as usual. I trust this man about as far as I can throw him, and as I have said before, after three spinal fusions, that is not going to be very far.
