Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post is moving to broaden its editorial voice by hiring three conservative columnists after a string of high-profile liberal departures.
Kate Andrews of The Spectator, Dominic Pino of National Review and Carine Hajjar of the Boston Globe editorial board will join the opinion section under new editor Adam O’Neal, who has said he wants to diversify viewpoints at a paper he acknowledged is read “overwhelmingly” by liberals.
The hires were announced in a memo that O’Neal circulated to staffers. The newspaper also announced the new additions on its social media page.
“On my first day at The Post, I wrote to you all that advocating free markets and personal liberties would be critical to rebuilding trust with Americans,” O’Neal wrote in the memo — a copy of which was obtained by the New York Post.
“By rejecting partisanship, welcoming debate within the pillars, and projecting optimism, we can appeal to a broader audience and serve high-quality journalism to millions of people around America.”
The hires signal a notable shift at a publication long identified with the left, as its leadership emphasizes themes of free markets and personal liberties.
Hajjar has been outspoken about her conservative views and is a regular guest on Fox News panels.
In a column published last month, she praised Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk as a “generational conservative voice” following his murder, writing that his political legacy would cement him as one of the most influential figures of his era.
Andrews, a British journalist who has written for The Telegraph and serves as US deputy editor of The Spectator, has also drawn attention for her sharp criticism of Democrats.
In one column, she warned that the “whole country will suffer from nightmares” if progressive New York politician Zohran Mamdani were to win the city’s mayoral race.
Pino, an economics editor at National Review, has built his reputation as a forceful advocate for free-market policies and as a frequent critic of Democratic economic proposals.
O’Neal, the 33-year-old journalist who came over to the Washington Post from The Economist, has been given a mandate to reshape the paper’s editorial direction in line with Bezos’ wishes.
In his first interview since taking the role, O’Neal told Fox News Digital he feels a “tremendous responsibility” and aims to diversify viewpoints while expanding the paper’s reach beyond its overwhelmingly liberal readership.
Bezos’ announcement in February that he intended to reorient the Washington Post opinion page triggered backlash, mass subscription cancellations and staff resignations, including that of O’Neal’s predecessor, David Shipley.
O’Neal told Fox News Digital that the newspaper is seeking to steer its coverage away from partisanship and toward greater balance, which entails at times agreeing with President Trump and other times praising Democrats who oppose left-wing “radicalism.”
O’Neal said that the newspaper will also criticize Trump when warranted.
So far this year, the Washington Post has been rocked by a sweeping exodus of its most recognizable opinion voices.
Pulitzer Prize–winner Jonathan Capehart, fact-checker Glenn Kessler, economic columnist Catherine Rampell and veteran writers David von Drehle, Molly Roberts and Perry Bacon Jr. have all departed, many through buyouts.
Longtime editorial leaders such as Ruth Marcus, who served as opinion editor, and Global Opinions editor Karen Attiah were also among the casualties.
Joe Davidson, who chronicled the federal workforce for decades, left as well, along with editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes.
Telnaes quit in protest after she said management refused to publish a cartoon critical of Bezos.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
