One of the The Washington Post’s top political columnists resigned Monday and alleged management spiked a piece that was critical of its multi-billionaire owner.
Ruth Marcus, who worked at the Post for four decades, penned a resignation letter that claimed her nixed article, which criticized Jeff Bezos’ overhauling of the Post’s opinion pages, marked the first time she ever had a column rejected by the paper.
Her letter, obtained by The New York Times, was addressed to the Post’s CEO Will Lewis and Bezos himself.
“Will’s decision not to run the column that I wrote respectfully dissenting from Jeff’s edict—something that I have not experienced in almost two decades of column-writing—underscores that the traditional freedom of columnists to select the topics they wish to address and say what they think has been dangerously eroded,” she wrote.
She criticized Bezos, who Forbes lists as the second richest man in the world with a net worth of $209 billion, for his heavy-handed approach to overhaul the Post’s opinion pages. Bezos revealed last month the section will now seek to defend “personal liberties and free markets” and leave other viewpoints to “be published by others.”
Marcus alleged the new policy threatens to break readers’ all-important trust in columnists. She said columnist are now beholden to write what their owner approves of—not necessarily what the writer really thinks about a particular issue.
Marcus, 66, ended her letter by writing “it breaks my heart to conclude that I must leave.” She went on to wish Bezos and Lewis luck as they “steer this storied and critical institution through troubled times.”
The resignation is the latest Post drama to leak into the public eye. There has been a steady stream of controversy at the storied paper, which boasts the second most Pulitzer Prizes in history behind the Times, since word got out last fall that Bezos personally spiked an endorsement of Kamala Harris for president.
That decision led to an exodus of editorial board members. After the election, it became clear the previously laissez faire Bezos would be having a more involved role in the Post’s day-to-day operations.
Bezos’ increased involvement has coincided with him appearing to cozy up to MAGA politics. He appeared alongside other tech leaders at Donald Trump’s inauguration last month and donated $1 million to his inaugural committee.
More recently, the Post saw lost 75,000 digital subscribers in the 48 hours after Bezos’ opinion section shakeup was announced late last month, reported The Guardian. The opinions editor, David Shipley, said he stepped down failing to dissuade Bezos from ushering in the new mandates.
Marcus has not announced what future plans in journalism—if any—she has.
She joined the Post while she was still a Harvard Law student in 1984 and worked her way up the ladder. That, according to her Post biography, included stints covering campaign finance, the DOJ, Supreme Court, and White House as a reporter before she became deputy national editor in 1999. She began writing regular columns starting in 2006 and became a frequent commentator and legal expert for cable news networks.
