Latest news with #JoeDavidson
The Independent
10-07-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Longtime WaPo columnist quit after editors spiked column for being ‘too opinionated'
Joe Davidson, the famed writer who had helmed The Washington Post's Federal Insider column for the past 17 years, revealed this week that he quit the paper in protest after one of his pieces was spiked for being 'too opinionated under an unwritten and inconsistently enforced policy.' In a lengthy Facebook post, Davidson also took numerous swipes at Jeff Bezos, the mega-billionaire owner of the Pos t who has openly cozied up to Donald Trump amid the president's return to power. This has included nixing the editorial board's planned endorsement of Kamala Harris last election and revamping the opinion section to focus on the traditionally conservative values of personal liberties and free markets. According to Davidson, who joined the Post in 2005 and began writing Federal Insider (then Federal Diary) in 2008, his job was no longer worth keeping when a column he submitted earlier this year was rejected because it was too harsh towards the president's administration. 'For me, the cost became too great when a Federal Insider column I wrote was killed because it was deemed too opinionated under an unwritten and inconsistently enforced policy, which I had not heard of previously,' he stated Tuesday. 'My resignation, after 20 years with The Post, took effect this month.' The Independent has reached out to The Washington Post for comment. Late last month, Davidson wrote a 'farewell' column acknowledging that he was leaving the paper 'because of a policy restricting the level of opinion and commentary in news section articles.' While agreeing that 'the policy can be justified journalistically,' he added that its 'rigorous enforcement represents a significant reduction in the latitude I've enjoyed' since he took over Federal Insider. 'Some readers who commented on my final column skewered Post owner Jeff Bezos,' Davidson pointed out in his Facebook post. 'I have no reason to believe he was directly involved in my situation, but it would be naïve to ignore the context.' Claiming that the Amazon founder's 'policies and activities have projected the image of a Donald Trump supplicant,' Davidson said that the 'shocking' result of Bezos' efforts to reshape the Post in recent months has led to 'fleeing journalists, plummeting morale and disappearing subscriptions.' Indeed, since Bezos blocked the Harris endorsement in October, the newspaper has experienced an exodus of talent across its newsroom, which has only intensified after Bezos announced the new opinion mandate in February, leading to the resignation of the section's editor. Recently, the owner and the Post's beleaguered CEO Will Lewis tapped Adam O'Neal – whose only editorial management experience is a one-year stint at conservative outlet The Dispatch – to lead the opinion division. 'Nonetheless, Post coverage of Trump remains strong,' Davidson continued. 'Yet the policy against opinion in News section columns means less critical scrutiny of Trump -- a result coinciding with Bezos's unseemly and well-documented coziness with the president.' As for the piece in question, Davidson said that it 'was a shock' that it was blocked for being 'too opinionated,' insisting that he had written other columns that were far more opinionated in the past. 'In that piece, I argued that 'one hallmark of President Donald Trump's first three, turbulent months in office is his widespread, ominous attack on thought, belief and speech,'' he declared, noting that he used 'specific examples' to support his argument throughout the column. Besides highlighting Secretary of State Marco Rubio's memo justifying the deportation of Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, Davidson said he mentioned Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk being abducted off the street by masked officers for writing an op-ed criticizing Israel. Describing the killing of that column as 'a death blow to my life as a Washington Post columnist,' Davidson asserted that he wrote two more pieces to see if he 'could cope with the restrictions,' only for an editor to tell him he wasn't 'allowed to describe a potential pay raise for federal employees as 'well-deserved' because of Post policy.' 'As a columnist, I can't live with that level of constraint. A column without commentary made me a columnist without a column,' Davidson continued. 'I also was troubled by significant inconsistencies in the implementation of the policy. During this period, The Post allowed stronger, opinionated language by other staffers, including the words 'viciousness,' 'cruelty' and 'meanness' to describe Trump's actions.' At the same time, he said he would remain a loyal subscriber to the paper even though he was no longer a Post journalist and other readers 'understandably have canceled subscriptions to protest Bezos's actions that have damaged the news organization's integrity.' Separately, a day after Davidson went public with his stunning revelation, Lewis sent out a staffwide memo encouraging those who 'do not feel aligned' with the company's 'significant reinvention journey' to resign and accept the Post's 'voluntary separation program' buyouts. 'The moment demands that we continue to rethink all aspects of our organization and business to maximize our impact,' Lewis wrote. 'If we want to reconnect with our audience and continue to defend democracy, more changes at The Post will be necessary. And to succeed, we need to be united as a team with a strong belief and passion in where we are heading.'
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Washington Post Columnist Says This 'Death Blow' Under Jeff Bezos Led To His Exit
A former Washington Post columnist has opened up about why his title wasn't 'worth keeping at any cost' after he quit the Jeff Bezos-owned paper and accused editors of killing a column for being 'too opinionated.' Joe Davidson — who joined the paper in 2005 and wrote the 'Federal Insider' column since 2008 — took to Facebook on Tuesday to break down the 'death blow' to his time at the paper, claiming that he was subjected to an inconsistently applied editorial policy. Davidson wrote that the now-dead column saw him declare that 'one hallmark of President Donald Trump's first three, turbulent months in office is his widespread, ominous attack on thought, belief and speech.' He added that he doesn't believe Bezos — who has kissed Trump's ring since his election win — was directly involved in the decision but he'd be 'naïve to ignore the context.' 'As a columnist, I can't live with that level of constraint. A column without commentary made me a columnist without a column,' Davidson wrote. Davidson's exit follows a number of other journalists who have waved goodbye to the Post in recent months including at leasttwo Pulitzer Prize winners and longtime columnist Ruth Marcus. Bezos, roughly a month after attending Trump's inauguration with his now-wife Lauren Sánchez Bezos, was met with backlash in the newsroom when he announced an overhaul of the paper's opinion section to focus on the 'two pillars' of 'personal liberties and free markets.' The move followed Bezos reportedly spiking an editorial board endorsement of then-Vice President Kamala Harris last year. In an email to Post staffers earlier this week, the paper's CEO Will Lewis informed those who 'do not feel aligned' with plans for the company's future to consider taking a pending buyout offer set to expire at the end of July, The New York Times reported. Davidson, in his post to Facebook, said the billionaire's 'policies and activities have projected the image of a Donald Trump supplicant' since the president's election win. Despite Bezos' actions that have 'damaged the news organization's integrity,' he noted that the paper's coverage of Trump remains 'strong' and he still is subscribed to the Post as he continues to support its journalists. 'When Bezos bought The Post, he provided needed money, energy and direction. The Post continues to produce first rate journalism now, despite his morale-busting actions,' he wrote. You can read more of Davidson's Facebook post, which accuses the paper of further restrictions to his pieces, . HuffPost has reached out to the Post, which was not immediately available for comment. DOGE Cut National Weather Service Jobs. Trump's NOAA Pick Now Says He Wants To Fill Them. 'Jeopardizes All Of It': Ex-Mike Pence Aide Knocks Trump Over These 'Confusing' Moves Trump Sets 50% U.S. Tariffs On Copper, Brazilian Imports Starting In August
Fox News
09-07-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Longtime Washington Post columnist quits paper, slams growing editorial constraints under Bezos
A longtime columnist for The Washington Post called out its billionaire owner Jeff Bezos and the shifting editorial policies he said forced him to quit the paper. Joe Davidson, who penned the Post's "Federal Insider" column for 17 out of his 20 years at the paper, took to his Facebook page and wrote a piece titled "Quitting The Washington Post -- or did it quit me?", telling readers having the esteemed title of "Washington Post columnist" was not worth keeping no matter the cost. "For me, the cost became too great when a Federal Insider column I wrote was killed because it was deemed too opinionated under an unwritten and inconsistently enforced policy, which I had not heard of previously," Davidson wrote Tuesday. "While the policy prohibiting opinion and commentary in News section articles can be justified journalistically, it is a departure from longstanding Post practice and mandated a change in my role that I chose not to accept." While Davidson didn't believe Bezos was directly involved in his column being killed, he wrote "it would be naïve to ignore the context." "Starting before the November presidential election, Bezos's policies and activities have projected the image of a Donald Trump supplicant," Davidson said. "The result – fleeing journalists, plummeting morale and disappearing subscriptions. Since October, when Bezos blocked publication of a planned Post endorsement of Kamala Harris for president, the departure of Post talent has been shocking and included five former editors directly above me in the newsroom's hierarchy. "Nonetheless, Post coverage of Trump remains strong. Yet the policy against opinion in News section columns means less critical scrutiny of Trump -- a result coinciding with Bezos's unseemly and well-document[ed] coziness with the president." Davidson wrote it was a "shock" when the column was blocked for being "too opinionated," insisting he had written more opinionated pieces throughout his tenure at the Post, but noted that in the piece that was killed, he argued that "one hallmark of President Donald Trump's first three, turbulent months in office is his widespread, ominous attack on thought, belief and speech." The piece, Davidson said, listed examples of actions taken by the Trump administration, like its efforts to deport anti-Israel activists Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Ozturk, as well as its crackdown on DEI. "Killing that column was a death blow to my life as a Washington Post columnist. But I wrote two more articles to see if I could cope with the restrictions. That's when I learned just how severe the policy is," Davidson wrote. "In my next piece, I was not allowed to describe a potential pay raise for federal employees as 'well-deserved' because of Post policy." "As a columnist, I can't live with that level of constraint. A column without commentary made me a columnist without a column. I also was troubled by significant inconsistencies in the implementation of the policy. During this period, The Post allowed stronger, opinionated language by other staffers, including the words 'viciousness,' 'cruelty' and 'meanness' to describe Trump's actions," he continued. Davidson, who previously wrote a farewell piece to Post readers late last month, said he will continue to subscribe to the Post to support the journalism of his former colleagues but acknowledged those who "understandably have canceled subscriptions to protest Bezos's actions that have damaged the news organization's integrity." "When Bezos bought The Post, he provided needed money, energy and direction. The Post continues to produce first-rate journalism now, despite his morale-busting actions," Davidson added. Neither Davidson nor The Washington Post responded to Fox News Digital's requests for comment. Over the past year, The Washington Post was at the center of intense outrage from the left. The first was in October when Bezos halted the paper's endorsement of then-Vice President Kamala Harris just days before the November election. The second was in February when Bezos announced his directive for the Post's editorial pages to promote "personal liberties and free markets" and vowed not to publish pieces opposing those principles. Both instances sparked a mass exodus of paid subscribers and several resignations, including opinion editor David Shipley, who opposed Bezos' new policy. Last month, the Post tapped Adam O'Neal, formerly of The Economist and The Wall Street Journal, to lead the opinion pages.
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
South Wichita restaurant is closed ‘until further notice' after a Monday-night fire
An electrical fire that broke out in the attic of the Jimmie's Diner at 1419 George Washington Drive on Monday evening could have been much worse, the owners say. But they're not sure how long it will take to clean up the damage left behind and are closing the restaurant until further notice. 'We are blessed no one was injured, and that's the main thing,' said Linda Davidson, who owns the restaurant — and the original Jimmie's Diner at 3111 N. Rock Road — with her husband, Jack, and son, Joe. Joe Davidson said that he got a call from the alarm company at 9:05 p.m. on Monday. A motorist passing by the restaurant had noticed heavy smoke coming out of the vents and called 911. The restaurant had closed at 8 p.m., and workers had locked the building up and left around 8:05 p.m., he said. Fire crews got to the scene quickly and were able to extinguish the fire, which did not spread beyond the attic and appears to have been sparked by an electrical fire in one of the furnaces. But the restaurant now has water and smoke damage, and the dining room smells strongly of burned wire, Joe Davidson said. On Tuesday morning, restoration crews were at the restaurant assessing the damage. The Davidsons don't know how long the restaurant will be closed, but they definitely plan to reopen it as soon as they can, they said. The Davidson family opened the south location of their Jimmie's Diner in the former Toc's Coffee House space in 2012. Until its reopen, customers who frequent the south-side Jimmie's Diner can visit the Rock Road restaurant, which is open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Duo will open a third Wichita location of this eatery on the east side — but with a twist Wichita mom of 10 opens gluten-free cafe and bakery using her family's favorite recipes Here's the 2025 list of Valentine's Day specials being offered at Wichita restaurants
