<![CDATA[ Editor de opinião do Washington Post demite-se após mudanças de Bezos ]]>

Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos announced Wednesday in a statement shared on social media that the newspaper's opinion editor has "decided to step down." The issue at hand is Bezos' decision to make the newspaper's opinions "every day in support of and in defense of two pillars: personal freedoms and the free market." This decision ends up reducing the scope of topics and viewpoints of this opinion space.

Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos. REUTERS/Bonnie Cash

"I offered David Shipley, whom I greatly admire, the opportunity to lead this new chapter. I suggested to him that if the answer was not 'of course,' then it would have to be 'no.' After careful consideration, David has decided to step aside," Jeff Bezos wrote on X, adding that he respects his decision.

"This is a significant change that will not be easy and will require 100% commitment. I respect your decision. We will be looking for a new opinion editor to take on this new direction," it reads.

Jeff Bezos, who founded Amazon, announced on Wednesday that there would be changes to the opinion columns of the American newspaper and that from now on, whoever writes in these columns will have to support "personal freedoms and the free market". This decision is said to have led to the dismissal of opinion editor David Shipley.

"We will cover other topics, of course, but opposing viewpoints to these pillars will be left to others to publish," adds the Washington Post owner.

Jeff Bezos considered that this "change will not be easy", but emphasizes that if America got where it is, it is not because it is "typical", but because it has "economic freedom".

"I am of America and for America and I am proud to be so. Our country did not get here by being typical. And a large part of America's success has been freedom in the economic realm. Freedom drives creativity, invention and prosperity," it reads.

This isn't the first time the Washington Post has been shaken up over controversial changes. In January, cartoonist Ann Telnaes resigned after the paper failed to publish a cartoon critical of Jeff Bezos.

"I've had editorial feedback and productive conversations — and some disagreements — about cartoons I've submitted for publication, but in all that time I've never had a cartoon rejected because of who or what I chose to depict with my pen. Until now," the Pulitzer Prize winner, the highest honor in American journalism, began by explaining in a post on Substack .

Another controversy erupted during the US election campaign when the Washington Post ended its tradition of endorsing a presidential candidate . Jeff Bezos attended Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20.

The decision not to support a presidential candidate was followed by the loss of more than 200,000 digital subscribers and the resignation of three members of the newspaper's editorial board.

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