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Jonathan Capehart Accepts Buyout and Leaves Washington Post Opinion Section

His exit reflects the ongoing exodus of veteran opinion writers after Jeff Bezos shifted the section’s focus to personal liberties, free markets.

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Jonathan Capehart had already exited the increasingly beleaguered newspaper’s editorial board after levelling explosive claims of racial insensitivity at a colleague.
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Overview

  • Jonathan Capehart, a Pulitzer Prize–winning columnist, accepted a voluntary buyout and will step down after 18 years with the paper’s Opinion section.
  • CEO Will Lewis rolled out a voluntary separation program for staffers who did not “feel aligned” with the section’s new editorial mandate.
  • In February, owner Jeff Bezos directed the Opinion pages to write daily in defense of personal liberties, free markets and related pillars.
  • Capehart plans to continue co-hosting MSNBC’s “The Weekend” and serving as a panelist on PBS’s “NewsHour” after his departure.
  • His move follows earlier exits by opinion editor David Shipley and columnists Ruth Marcus, Eugene Robinson and Joe Davidson.