Scoop: Washington Post editor Ruth Marcus says she’s resigning after a column on Jeff Bezos’s Wall Street Journal-like opinion pivot was rejected by Will Lewis
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Ben, speaking as a member of the profession of journalists for the past 60-years, beginning in 1964, I believe that Ruth's decision based upon rejection of her own work was too little too late. IMO, she should have resigned with the Bezos editorial wherein he declared that his judgment prevails.
Hey Ben! Have you done your job, you could have found that someone in the Board leaked the investigations findings to the CEO and that's why he went to Slack and changed his original message and guess what? There's receipts! But you were too lazy to do your job. What was the hurry? Shame, shame.
I canceled my subscription in 2023 but it's still good to see some of its old guard standing up for basic principles of journalism even at the cost of leaving the paper
for me it was the growing bothsidesism, and (not claiming any amazing prescience) the addition of one worthless right wing columnist after another to the opinions roster
Agree. With respect to Thiessen, I didn’t like how the paper allowed fabrications/lying in columns under the umbrella of “opinion.” I thought opinion columns were supposed to be opinions about FACTS, not a means to make shit up and label it “an opinion.”
"Will's decision to not…run the column that I wrote respectfully dissenting from Jeff's edict - something that I have not experienced in almost two decades...underscores that the traditional freedom of columnists...has been dangerously eroded,"
What I’ve always hated about the Opinions page is that they damage the reputation and jeopardize the livelihoods of the paper’s reporters. That vaunted “wall” was always an insufferable conceit. It’s more like the bulkhead in a ship; now
they’ll all sink.
I’m sick of saying better late than never.
Maybe other editors and columnists can follow the example of an elder stateswoman among them.
They’ve never showed solidarity with the paper’s reporters, readers and subscribers, but maybe they can at least muster some among themselves and quit,
too.
The terms "left" and "right" have lost all meaning. Right these days equals MAGA, which has nothing to do with traditional Republican values of fiscal responsibility and limited government. Left is what's left over -- science, data, care for the poor, the marginalized, and the middle class.
But I used to read her column in the Post years ago, and she was fairly right-wing. And on a lot of topics -- she's changed. She and Bill Kristol and Ana Navarro et al. It warms my heart to see it.
i would support it in a hot minute if it moved off substack. I've cxled all my substack subs. I've continued to support journalists who moved to alternatives (https://ghost.io is but one)
Dana Milbank, Eugene Robinson,
Catherine Rampell, Max Boot, Catherine Rampell, Colbert King, Philip Bump, and others are still hanging in there. Of all of these, I think if Milbank and Robinson go it should be like the Little Dutch Boy removing his finger from the dike.
Anyway, might be a good time for a legacy media outlet looking to save itself and regain some credibility to ask the current regime why it’s doing everything Russia would want to do if its goal was to destroy the United States.
Yes. He's the reason I canceled my subscription and switched to the Guardian. Great decision: no ads with a subscription, clear sections, scroll bars (cf NYT which doesn't have them), US edition, marks which stories I have read. (Again, I think it was NYT that didn't do that.)
Damn...that was beautifully restrained but I still hear the hurt and pain of this decision.
I do worry that this is EXACTLY what these billionaire bought papers & corporate run media want...to destroy free media. Get those w/integrity to leave & also their subscribers...😮💨
Sad. Hope she becomes more active here. If only there was some billionaire that could gather all these writers/editors/journalists who are now “homeless” and create a new media group.
We have the same consumer power.
Dump Tesla
Dump Amazon
Dump Meta
Dump Apple
Dump facebook
Dump paypal.
Dump @washingtonpost.com
Make these rich assholes that could not care less about America suffer. WE MUST UNITE>
What I’ve always hated about the Opinions page is that they damage the reputation and jeopardize the livelihoods of the paper’s reporters. That vaunted “wall” was always an insufferable conceit. It’s more like the bulkhead in a ship; now
they’ll all sink.
Honestly stop worrying about the venerated WP. It's just a newspaper, that is all it's ever been. It's not the entity, it's the people. It's always the people. Hopefully you Americans can find honest, truthful reporting somewhere else. And if you do, support the Hell out of it. 🇨🇦🇺🇦🇨🇦
In my view, the goal is for the responsible journalists to create new independent media — and for us to follow them. Bezos has already destroyed the WaPo. We have to make sure he and his ilk don’t destroy journalism altogether. It has to take root and survive elsewhere.
Yes because we only have 1 newspaper in the country. Oh wait, I'm hearing that we have a tremendous range of choices, many more honest than the Post. Huh.
Goebbels would love what the Post has become under Bezos, wtf do you think is worth saving at this point? There are far better sources of news and real reporting still out there.
There are other outlets you can support in lieu of the times. Propaganda is propaganda and Bezo's turned WaPo in ass-wipe for the right. Spend your dollars where you see fit though.
Destroying it will mean that Jeff Bezos failed. And that you can't run a major news organization while angling for billions in government contracts from a corrupt administration. He must fail, and fail spectacularly.
I'm fortunate because I live in France and read French. I left the NYT several years ago and WaPo this year. Le Monde is expensive but not owned by oligarchs.
I have continued my NYT subscription for now, hoping the paper can find its way. In the long run, unless something else changes, it has little chance. I still take the Guardian and Mother Jones. I still read AlJazeera.
While our democracy depends on us all being well informed we are forced to pay for information, and even if it is accurate it is often incomplete, and it is often less accurate than it ought to be.
News, if it is accurate and complete, does not sell very well.
Wishing Ruth the best! I’m hoping she’ll land where her honest opinions and her factual reporting are valued and published. We need voices like hers, especially right now.
I started reading the Post as a child. My grandfather saved the Kids Post section for me every weekend. I have been a loyal subscriber for 30+ years but am STRUGGLING to decide whether to cancel. I want to support journalism, but Bezos has RUINED the Post.
I cancelled my print subscription but I had paid through October so still receive it. I won’t financially support fascists unless there is no option. And there are many other options for news.
And, for decades, the Post was my primary print news source. The day Bezos nixed a presidential endorsement was the day I left it behind. Most of their best journalists have since left. Soon, it will be just another arm of the right-wing propaganda machine.
I understand taking the high road but her last sentence drives me crazy. “I wish you the best as you steer this institution thru troubled times”. What??
How about “you’re destroying this institution by driving it into a ditch”.
I think she's talking to her colleagues, not to Bezos. The people she's worked with, in the trenches, for decades.
I don't begrudge her that. And if some said, "I'm going to stay to continue to write stories exposing those in power, and continuing making Bezos uncomfortable," I get that argument.
Time to not only cancel subscriptions but also boycott Bezos’ core business Amazon. I left X and all Zuckerberg apps, never even thought about buying a Tesla, started boycotting Jack Daniel’s and other red state products. But Amazon is really difficult to replace. Any advice?
Your mileage may vary depending on your location, but fwiw, I "cancelled" Amazon many years ago and never felt I was missing anything. Books: easiest to replace; Prime: you can live without; food: never should've been bought from Amazon to begin with; the rest: buy/order elsewhere. Good luck!
I started buying more locally - even if it's at a chain store (but not one with bad policies), as well as mom & pop stores, and if I need to buy something online, it's pretty easy to find other sources. Yes, I have paid for shipping a couple of times, but you have to make small sacrifices.
I cancelled Amazon Prime a couple months ago and haven’t used Amazon at all since, I think you can find what you need through internet searches and ordering directly from individual business sites, Etsy and eBay too, I’ll use Barnes & Noble for some books and music and gifts
I’m only staying with Amazon bc of my kindle unlimited- still got so many books to read and bc it allows me to continue my ARC readings, which keep me sane during this time. But I have curbed the rest down at least 90%, always buying directly where possible. Not giving him more of my money.
How is Amazon ‘difficult to replace’?
What you ACTUALLY mean is it’s convenient
Get off your tush/engage your brain
Deal directly with companies, shop at actual bricks and mortar, use ETSY
We haven’t used Amazon since I realized who and what Bezos was doing- circa 2006
Neither do our adult kids
Yes that might be possible. But isn’t that exactly what the MAGA want? Turn back in time, be conservative, deny progress. I’d rather see a step forward. Get the stuff I need without supporting fascist billionaires. Maybe Etsy is the answer.
Yep. That’s what I’ve been doing lately and it’s fine. There’s a whole world of other retailers that sell everything on Amazon! Sometimes I even pay more to buy at a mom and pop store, but it’s worth it.
We're using Amazon much less. If I find a product I would like there, I'll search for it again on the broader web and often find it directly from the retailer and usually at the same price or better.
I needed a sheet of cork and found it on Amazon. Went to the manufacturers web page. Ordered it directly from them, same price and free shipping. Delivery may be longer, but worth it to have avoided giving Amazon my business.
Republicans love to bark about morals and ethics and pass judgment on anyone they think they can ruin, but every time their morality get tested, they sell out immediately. You can about set your watch by it.
Getting scolded by Bezos just before the election did it for me. What took her so long?
The other question I have is: why are conservatives losing their minds in what should be a moment of triumph? Hugh Hewitt rage quit WaPo. Thiessen has totally gone around the bend.
I kept or even started some left-leaning news subscriptions during the 1st term of anti-science attacks of current pres, now I’m cancelling dt WP bending the knee to the self declared king.
Yes, give up on WaPo but don’t go to the NYT. They are equally biased, especially concerning Palestine. I’ve switched to The Guardian, as have many other Americans.
Can you provide recommendations? I don't want my news in an echo chamber. I want my news to present clean facts and a fair and balanced analysis of what this news means to me.
The Philadelphia @inquirer is one of the best news outlets in the US. It's owned by a non-profit. As soon as Bezos squelched the Post's endorsement of Kamala Harris, I cancelled my subscription and immediately subscribed to the Inquirer. I'm VERY happy with my choice.
Will Bunch is one of the Inquirer's opinion columnists. He's a great example of the kind of hard-hitting, fact-based opinion journalists who Jeff Bezos hates.
@willbunch.bsky.social
I have already canceled my Amazon account, my subscription to the Washington Post, and I quit shopping at Whole Foods, but I will continue to find ways I can fight Bezos. He is an unAmerican, antidemocratic oligarch. Fuck him.
Ruth Marcus is an institutionalist/centrist who in her writing has an instinct to go for the capillary. If she’s too far out of the box, then the WaPo editorials are now just an attempt to spam news readers with Jeff’s Thoughts
and I think that’s one of the challenges for MSM reporters: even if you’re a brilliant newsgatherer, if the boss is just going to use the audience that consumes your news to push his hobbyhorse what’s the point? Are you just another Fox News reporter telling themselves they work on “the news side”?
Don't just cancel your subscription, in which case it will simply not "renew". DEMAND a refund of all remaining funds that you've paid to read the WaPo and will no longer be reading! Accelerate the departure!
Also, help punish Bezos by canceling your Amazon Prime Membership. Amazon makes $30 BILLION/year from Prime Membership fees and an estimated 95% ($28.5 billion) drops straight to the bottom line. These Membership fees represent a whopping 48% of 2024 net profit.
My subscription was cancelled, effectively not renewing in August 2025. After Bezos' opinion page BS, I contacted WaPo customer service through the app and asked for an immediate refund as I wouldn't be reading the paper any longer. I received roughly $54 back! It felt good!
I cancelled a few months before I decided this was ridiculous and then followed up with customer service for a refund on the remaining portion of the subscription. Depending upon when your cancellation takes effect - 1 week or a few months or more - I would still pursue a refund!
I ended my support once I found out that they refused to stand behind a nominee for the election. Every few weeks, I get another little sign that they are simply pretending to stand on the side of the people. The writing has become too biased. Apparently, even opinions aren't allowed?
I’m concerned about all these Washington post writers – not having a newspaper to write for —that’s a top-notched one. Will they become freelance writers?
I only hold on to this one MSM subscription as a sort of depth sounder. To measure the distance from the surface of reality, MSM will wilfully submerge itself to communicate with the dead, deep in the political hadal.
But at these depths, measuring almost seems redundant & pointless.
I used to read four newspapers a day now I'm down to two and both of those are outside the US. I refuse to read a paper that's being told what to write and how to write it by a billionaire owner or refuses to defend democracy because its partisan.
Like Ruth Marcus, I've loved the Post but now conclude I must leave. I won't renew my subscription. I started reading the Post over 40 years ago. It was a portal for this farm boy to enter a far larger, more interesting world. But sadly, WaPo's credibility is dangerously eroded. I'm waving goodbye.
Yeah, I wouldn't really trust anyone in real life who couldn't acknowledge that Harris was the only sane choice in 2024. Why would I trust your newspaper if you can't even do that.
I'm not in love with NYT but they did manage to make a responsible endorsement.
I concluded that about a month or so ago. I started reading the Post regularly in college, which is about 30 years ago for me now. I was a subscriber for years. I miss it, but canceling was the right thing to do for me. The current owner and his chief lackey do not value what I value in a newspaper.
I did the same and I share your sadness. It's a tough call to make. There are still some good people there, but it is not the same paper, beyond "zombie" status at this point.
He should have closed it or sold it, but that would require some vestige of a conscience.
Lástima, el servilismo está a la orden del día. El miedo al gangsterismo se esparce por el mundo. Trump y compañía están convirtiendo el mundo en un infierno.
I did as well. I keep wavering because I want to support independent journalism in this country and so far the news side of WaPo appears clean, but then I think I would just be putting off the inevitable.
I've felt the same way. I've stuck with WaPo so far using exactly the same reasoning. But it creates huge cognitive dissonance to have your opinion section so at odds with the facts that the news operation is publishing. Sooner or later, reality will yield to right-wing fantasy in news as well.
There are so many other journalists doing great work at other institutions right now that could use your dollars. Wired, 404, ProPublica, to name a few.
Exactly. A bunch of great publications already get a bunch of my dollars. Like Timothy Snyder says in "On Tyranny," defend institutions. Pick some great newspapers, magazines, substacks and support them with your money and your participation.
Yeah and I do, but we are losing the infrastructure of historical journalism and that makes it easier for yahoos like that suit dude at the Zelensky confab to be as accredited as someone from AP. However, that ship has been sailing for a while.
I have given my funds to my local newspaper, the Guardian, Marisa Kabas, and still follow the AP bc they refuse to capitulate and seem the most trustworthy source without bias.
The whole news media universe is breaking up and reconfiguring. There's not any single "public" anymore. Our publics are so fragmented I wonder if we can ever again create a coherent stream of public discourse strong enough to keep a nation this size together by consent rather than by fear.
And most of WP staff have departed for outlets like the NYT. Say what you will about the Times, its owner isn't trolling for billions in government contracts from the same corrupt administration the paper is supposed to cover. That's a big difference.
Yup. The Atlantic is getting great talent from the sinking WaPo, too. And of course, Jen Rubin has started her own, The Contrarian. WaPo is like a nurse log in the temperate rain forests of the Pacific Northwest. A giant tree fallen and rotting becomes a place where new life sprouts.
A big middle finger 🖕 to Jeff Bezos. Had he owned WaPo back in 1970s we would have never heard of Watergate or Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein, or Deep Throat.
Jeff Bezos isn't on journalism's side - isn't on America's side.
Is Bezos destroying the @washingtonpost.com as a favor to Elon, Trump or Putin - or all three?
Maybe it's time for Americans to quit Amazon.
The fascist billionaires like Bezos have infiltrated/taken over our daily lives way too much.
Substack is awful in its own ways, though. I always hope people of good conscience find a platform that's not reprehensible, or self-publish, which isn't difficult or expensive.
IMO people like Cuban and Hanks (he played Bradlee in a movie about the WaPo's glory days) should finance a new online national newspaper, with sub fees for middle-class Normie Dems like me, and some free content. Hire some people like Marcus and also some of the many great freelancers/journos.
I hope we have not heard the last of #RuthMarkus. Her articles and commentary were exemplary. @washingtonpost.com is declining even further. It's sad to see her go. You should rethink things before you're considered "State Media".
Their paid subscription base calls the ball on how much they can charge for advertising… reduce that base and that will tank their bottom line from advertisers!!!
In the Grand Scheme of Things, cancelling my subscription to the Washington Post because it's being pushed to the right won't hurt their bottom line.
But it feels like the right thing to do and I've done it.
Left six months ago. Refreshing to discover there are other media outlets available that are not encumbered by the shade that a multi-multi-billionaire, with his own clear agenda (need MORE MONEY!) casts over factual objective journalism.
The barbarians are at the gate.
Bezos has his arms out.
We can no longer trust so many news organizations that are giving up to an authoritarian regime in this country. It is very disheartening to see this country change so drastically and even more sad that this is what America wanted when they voted for Trump.
How did Thiessen's most recent column fit the stated criteria for the page? It had nothing to do with either personal liberties or free markets. (It was a full MAGA version of reality on Ukraine.)
If I want to read anything on Wapo, I use a paywall remover. I won't give them a dime. But pretty soon, it won't be worth reading at all. "Democracy Dies Under The Boot Of A Billionaire".
I think @eugenerobinson.bsky.social should seriously consider following her and encouraging as many other Post journalists to do the same. I also think they should consider starting their own employee-owned news outlet to compete with Bezos.
Jesus, I just had a terrifying vision of people sitting on the other side of an opaque barrier from Jeff Bezos who has just been told that every time he presses the button, the voltage for the anonymous victim will double.
Corporate media was a mistake made plainly clear by the movies Network and The Insider and we have learned nothing and it’s all gotten immeasurably worse
It’s kind’ve incredible that throughout my lifetime that the WP, NYT, and LAT went from actual credible news sources to soapbox rags for billionaires to scream endlessly about their victimhood complexes. What an incredible era of late stage capitalism.
***Best way to punish Bezos: cancel your Amazon Prime Membership. Amazon makes $30 BILLION/year from Prime Membership fees and an estimated 95% ($28.5 billion) drops straight to the bottom line. These Membership fees represent a whopping 48% of 2024 net profit.
I am so sorry that WAPO has declined as an advocate of free speech and thought. It used to be a beacon of light amongst the fog of darkness. Now, it’s something to wrap fish in. Why does anyone who wants truth and understanding still have a subscription? Why do people post using it as a reference
Comments
Kathryn Graham is rolling in her grave. God help Bezos if she gets loose.
You can't trust 'em
When the walls, come crumblin tumblin
D
O
W
N
And we do mind, being their whipping girls!
Ruth Marcus, you did well! 👏
I used to email them begging them to defenestrate the Opinions board.
A Mark Theissen piece was the final straw.
"Will's decision to not…run the column that I wrote respectfully dissenting from Jeff's edict - something that I have not experienced in almost two decades...underscores that the traditional freedom of columnists...has been dangerously eroded,"
they’ll all sink.
Maybe other editors and columnists can follow the example of an elder stateswoman among them.
They’ve never showed solidarity with the paper’s reporters, readers and subscribers, but maybe they can at least muster some among themselves and quit,
too.
I call BULLSHIT.
So, she was fine with all the other acts of interference, but when it hit HER, she resigns? Well, la-dee-dah for her!
She's no hero.
Make no mistake, @ruthmarcus.bsky.social is a sell out.
But I used to read her column in the Post years ago, and she was fairly right-wing. And on a lot of topics -- she's changed. She and Bill Kristol and Ana Navarro et al. It warms my heart to see it.
SMDH
Catherine Rampell, Max Boot, Catherine Rampell, Colbert King, Philip Bump, and others are still hanging in there. Of all of these, I think if Milbank and Robinson go it should be like the Little Dutch Boy removing his finger from the dike.
The oligarchy and its tools of disinfo and manipulation must be destroyed at all costs and by any and all means available.
I do worry that this is EXACTLY what these billionaire bought papers & corporate run media want...to destroy free media. Get those w/integrity to leave & also their subscribers...😮💨
Everyone should be outraged by what is going on with our Freedoms - shame on every damn one of you feckless GOP Congress members!
https://bsky.app/profile/benmullin.bsky.social/post/3ljzqgixk6s2v
That seems a bit off.
Dump Tesla
Dump Amazon
Dump Meta
Dump Apple
Dump facebook
Dump paypal.
Dump @washingtonpost.com
Make these rich assholes that could not care less about America suffer. WE MUST UNITE>
It’s always the right day and the right time to resign from the Washington Post.
they’ll all sink.
Are we doing it for *us* or are we doing it because they're getting us to do it for *them*?
Gotta stay 2 moves ahead
do words even mean anything anymore
Asset denial.
Killing the Washington Post is stupid. Applying pressure to change it back to what it once was is doable with the right owner.
lol
However, you're clinging to a historical ideal of what WaPo used to be.
Bezos has destroyed that, and clinging to its memory only delays the inevitable establishment of the new beacon of democracy that must rise.
Focus now on that
Having a major newspaper being bought and controlled by a political ally billionaire oligarch would be very pleasing to Goebbels, I would think.
https://www.cjr.org/
But I have to pay, and most people cannot.
https://medium.com/@bj.chippindale/owned-3a5602124f7b
News, if it is accurate and complete, does not sell very well.
We may well pay with our freedom, with our nation, or with our civilization for its absence, but none of those are valued in terms of money.
https://bsky.app/profile/bjchippindale.bsky.social/post/3lacq4nvxsb2t
The crazy millionaires only understand the language of money.
It's noble but it doesn't change anything in the billionaire oligarch's mind.
So I cancelled. And I haven't looked back. Maintaining our subscription sends a message that what he's doing is ok
How about “you’re destroying this institution by driving it into a ditch”.
I don't begrudge her that. And if some said, "I'm going to stay to continue to write stories exposing those in power, and continuing making Bezos uncomfortable," I get that argument.
What you ACTUALLY mean is it’s convenient
Get off your tush/engage your brain
Deal directly with companies, shop at actual bricks and mortar, use ETSY
We haven’t used Amazon since I realized who and what Bezos was doing- circa 2006
Neither do our adult kids
If that's too much of a stretch, order via companies' web sites and bypass Amazon. You might even save $$.
If you don't think so, consider the withdrawal of support for Ukraine. Who that hurts. Who that helps.
And it's not a "negotiating strategy". It's a give to Putin and extortion for him and Elon.
The other question I have is: why are conservatives losing their minds in what should be a moment of triumph? Hugh Hewitt rage quit WaPo. Thiessen has totally gone around the bend.
Many good outlets available to us now. No need to pay an oligarch for his interpretation of the world.
@willbunch.bsky.social
How ... casual.
Bezos isn't going to own any of his responsibility for enabling Trumpism, though.
🧑🍳💋
https://nypost.com/2025/03/05/media/washington-post-wants-help-recruiting-right-leaning-journalists/
PUNISH Bezos = CANCEL Amazon Prime
But at these depths, measuring almost seems redundant & pointless.
"On 9 May 2014 William Lewis was confirmed as CEO of Dow Jones and Company, and publisher of The Wall Street Journal."
Oh, big surprise. Could have knocked me over with a semi.
I'm not in love with NYT but they did manage to make a responsible endorsement.
He should have closed it or sold it, but that would require some vestige of a conscience.
The WaPo is dead. It died in darkness, choking on dollar bills.
https://www.propublica.org/
https://www.wired.com/
For now.
Is Bezos destroying the @washingtonpost.com as a favor to Elon, Trump or Putin - or all three?
Maybe it's time for Americans to quit Amazon.
The fascist billionaires like Bezos have infiltrated/taken over our daily lives way too much.
NBC KNOWINGLY marketed a failed businessman/criminal con man/unhinged narcissist/sexual predator.
Now Bezos is doing it, too:
https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/donald-trump-the-apprentice-streaming-amazon-prime-video-1236333072/
If she’s too far afield for Bezos then he’s gone full-bore MAGA.
I look forward to following your voice.
Respectfully,
Mayer
But it feels like the right thing to do and I've done it.
The barbarians are at the gate.
Bezos has his arms out.
They don't deserve Ruth Marcus!
@carolleonnig.bsky.social
Who is one of the best!
Godspeed @ruthmarcus.bsky.social
@willbunch.bsky.social
The disappearance of a sense of responsibility is the most far-reaching consequence of submission to authority.
Stanley Milgram
Fuck both of you. I’m out. You know why.
Go to hell,
Ruth
PUNISH Bezos = CANCEL Amazon Prime