Washington Post reporter accuses Jeff Bezos of ‘massive encroachment,’ threatens to quit if…

The Washington Post's policy change by owner Jeff Bezos prompted backlash from staff, including reporter Jeff Stein.

The Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos yesterday announced a policy change to the newspaper's opinion pages in a move that has clearly not gone down well with many staff members. The Amazon billionaire said that going forward, his newspaper will defend two core principles: personal liberties and free markets.

The Washington Post owner and Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos announced a change to the newspaper's opinions policy. (AFP)

The policy shift prompted opinion editor David Shipley to step down from his position. Other staffers are also unhappy with the decision.

Massive encroachment

Washington Post chief economics reporter Jeff Stein called it a “massive encroachment” on Bezos’ part and said he would resign if the billionaire tried to interfere with the “news side” next.

“Massive encroachment by Jeff Bezos into The Washington Post’s opinion section today - makes clear dissenting views will not be published or tolerated there,” Stein wrote on X, sharing a screenshot of Bezos’ memo to staff on the policy change.

“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,” Stein said.

The Washington Post video producer Dave Jorgenson also threatened to quit if Bezos interfered with news coverage next. Echoing Jeff (Stein), if Bezos interferes with my work on the news side - I'm out,” Jorgenson said in a TikTok video.

According to The Independent, other staffers also expressed dissatisfaction with the change. The announcement was reportedly “being received badly” by the newsroom.

The policy change comes only a few weeks after more than 400 Washington Post journalists signed a petition asking Bezos to visit the newspaper’s office to restore “trust that has been lost.”