The Washington Post lost another high-profile journalist because of owner Jeff Bezos and his efforts to revamp the paper’s opinion section to express more libertarian views.

Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Eugene Robinson told staff in a note on Thursday, “I wanted to let you know that I’ve decided to leave The Post. The announced ‘significant shift’ in our section’s mission has spurred me to decide that it’s time for my next chapter. I wish nothing but the very best for the paper and for all of you. I won’t be a stranger, and I’ll be reading your unparalleled work every single day.”

In late February, Bezos told staff in a memo about the changes to the paper’s opinions section, writing, “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. There was a time when a newspaper, especially one that was a local monopoly, might have seen it as a service to bring to the reader’s doorstep every morning a broad-based opinion section that sought to cover all views. Today, the internet does that job.

That led to well-respected journalist David Shipley immediately stepping down as the Post’s opinion editor. Then, last month, longtime Post columnist Ruth Marcus quit after saying publisher and CEO Will Lewis killed a column that expressed concern about Bezos’ new direction for the opinion section.

Robinson leaves after 45 years at the paper. He joined the Post in 1980 and started working for the op-ed page in 2005. He won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for columns about the campaign and election of Barack Obama. Besides the Post, he is often seen on TV, especially MSNBC.

The Post put out a statement that said, “Our sincerest congratulations to beloved Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson on his retirement. For 45 years, his reporting and commentary spanned continents and beats, earning countless recognitions, including a Pulitzer Prize. Eugene’s strong perspective and impeccable integrity have regularly shaped our public discourse, cementing his legacy as a leading voice in American journalism.”

The Post’s statement said that Robinson was retiring. But it seemed clear from Robinson’s statement that he was leaving because he didn’t care for the direction of the opinion section. He is 71, but his memo to colleagues only talked about his “next chapter,” not specifically retirement.

Whatever the reason for Robinson’s departure, this much is clear: The Post isn’t as good today as it was yesterday when Robinson was still there. Furthermore, his departure was avoidable. The Post leadership only needed to allow opinion journalists to write without restrictions.

Media news, tidbits and interesting links for your weekend review …

• Radhika Jones, the top editor at Vanity Fair since 2017, announced Thursday that she is stepping down. She told staff in a memo that she wanted new challenges and to avoid the “horror of staying too long at the party.” She added, “I began to feel, more powerfully, the pull of new goals in my life, around family and friends and writing and other ways to make an impact.” She will depart later this spring. Anna Wintour — the chief content officer of Condé Nast, the publisher of Vanity Fair — says the search is underway for Jones’ replacement. The New York Times’ Benjamin Mullin and Katie Robertson have more.
• A reader of The Poynter Report pointed this out to me: Buried in a recent New York Times article about threats from Donald Trump and Elon Musk to to shut down National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Mauna Loa Observatory was this line: “White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to comment, writing in an email, ‘As a matter of policy, we do not respond to reporters with pronouns in their bios.’” It’s stunning and appalling that a White House press secretary would actually say something like that and that an administration would have such a “policy” — be it official or unofficial.
• The Hollywood Reporter’s Alex Weprin with “Trump Tariffs Timing Couldn’t Be Worse for Hollywood.”
• And here is Deadline’s Max Goldbart with “How Donald Trump’s Trade Tariffs Will Hit The International Film & TV Biz.”
• Must-read essay from The Atlantic’s Ashley Parker, formerly of The Washington Post: “Miscarriage and Motherhood.”
• The New York Times’ Benjamin Mullin with “Why Was Newsmax, the Right-Wing Channel, Suddenly Worth More Than U.S. Steel?”
• My Poynter colleague Kelly McBride writes this column in her role as NPR’s public editor: “Asking fair questions is the crux of unbiased journalism.”
• The Wall Street Journal’s Katie Deighton with “Former Vice CEO Nancy Dubuc Is Back, This Time Tackling Women’s Sports.”
• ProPublica’s McKenzie Funk with “Inside ICE Air: Flight Attendants on Deportation Planes Say Disaster Is ‘Only a Matter of Time.’”
• With the Final Four this weekend, TNT Sports announced it has reached a long-term extension with Grant Hill. He will continue as a lead game analyst for TNT Sports and on CBS Sports’ coverage of the men’s NCAA Tournament. Hill is a Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer who played on two national championship teams at Duke. He joined TNT in 2013. He will work Saturday’s semifinals and Monday night’s championship game with play-by-play announcer Ian Eagle and fellow analyst Bill Raftery.
• And, finally, here’s a nice story to send you out on your weekend. The Washington Post’s Olivia George with “Every year, they picnic under the cherry blossoms. This is their story.”

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Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at tjones@poynter.org.

Correction: This story has been updated to correct the headline to say that Eugene Robinson has been left The Washington Post.

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