Columnist Eugene Robinson exits Washington Post – Business News
Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson, an MSNBC contributor and staunch critic of President Trump, stated he’s quitting after proprietor Jeff Bezos’ “significant shift” within the paper’s mission — becoming a member of an exodus of journalists on the beleaguered broadsheet.
“The announced ‘significant shift’ in our section’s mission has spurred me to decide that it’s time for my next chapter,” Robinson introduced in a memo to fellow staffers on Thursday.
“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.”
Eugene Robinson is departing The Washington Post after 45 years. The Washington Post by way of Getty Images
Bezos, the billionaire Amazon proprietor, stated in February that the left-leaning publication’s opinion pages would shift their protection to higher mirror American values like “personal liberties and “free markets.”
Robinson, who has written for the op-ed web page since 2005, is the third Washington Post staffer to depart the paper since Bezos’ edict.
Ex-opinion editor David Shipley give up as quickly because the revamp was introduced, and longtime columnist Ruth Marcus departed in March, after she stated writer Will Lewis “spiked” a column “expressing concern” over Bezos’ new direction for the part.
Robinson cited proprietor Jeff Bezos’ modifications within the protection of the opinion pages as a motive for his departure. Getty Images
Robinson joined the newspaper in 1980 and received a Pulitzer Prize in 2009 for his columns on the 2008 presidential marketing campaign, specializing in Barack Obama’s rise to the presidency.
He can also be the writer of “Coal to Cream: A Black Man’s Journey Beyond Color to an Affirmation of Race” and “Last Dance in Havana.”
A Washington Post spokesperson congratulated 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 rep stated.
During his time on the paper, he emerged as one of its most vocal critics of President Trump, calling him a “weak, narcissistic man” in 2017. In February, he wrote that Trump “tramples the Constitution, vandalizes the federal government and trashes our vital international alliances.”
Changes to the left-leaning protection of The Washington Post has sparked outrage amongst staffers. AFP by way of Getty Images
Robinson will proceed his function as chief political analyst at NBC News and MSNBC.
His departure comes as Bezos and Lewis are steering the paper towards a more centrist place, to the dismay of many present and former Washington Post journalists, together with its ex-executive editor Marty Baron.
Baron had slammed Bezos for blocking the newspaper’s editorial board from endorsing Kamala Harris within the 2024 presidential election.
At the time, Bezos defended his determination, saying that endorsing Harris would have added a “perception of bias” to their protection.
