• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, April 6, 2025

Washington Post staffers were served this message by columnist Eugene Robinson late last week: 

“Dear colleagues, 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. All best, Gene.”

With that post, the Post has lost yet another major opinion writer. Columnist Ruth Marcus, quit in March, claiming that Post CEO Will Lewis, had killed a column she wrote. The subject: The effort by owner Jeff Bezos to reposition the opinion section of the Post to reflect a pro-market (and presumably more pro-Trump) orientation.

Bezos is in his rights to do so. He clearly feels the need to protect his interests, those of the Post and his other businesses.

In fairness, the Post has continued its robust reporting on the administration. But the watering-down of its opinion section has to hurt it with some readers. 

The White House demanded Robinson’s ouster in February, around the time he severely criticized the Post’s new opinion policy.  

Robinson joined the paper in 1980 when Katherine Graham was publisher and Ben Bradlee was editor, and served in multiple capacities. He is a Pulitzer Prize winner. 

The Post seems to be calling his departure a retirement, and offers nothing but praise for Robinson’s long tenure.

“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 says.

Robinson will survive. As with Marcus, he has books and TV appearances to fall back on. But one wonders: Who’s next? And the surviving opinion writers might well ask: Who needs it?