The Washington Post said Wednesday it hired Adam O'Neal, a journalist for The Economist, to become its next comment editor.
Mr. O'Neill will be charged with a new guidance taken by Jeff Bezos, owner of the Washington Post: Advocating for “individual freedom and free markets.” Before joining the Economist, Mr. O'Neal was an editorial page writer for the Wall Street Journal, where the opinion pages were very conservative.
Mr. O'Neal, 33, introduced himself to readers in a short video posted by the Post's public relations account, saying he was “for a while” and added that the section would be “undoubtedly patriotism” and use “technology to improve our journalism.”
“It's strange, you may have never heard of me, you may be wondering: Who am I?” said Mr. O'Neal.
Mr. O'Neill replaced David Shipley, who resigned after Bezos decided to adjust the ideological scope of the part. The Post’s comments section has a history of expressing multiple political views, but Mr. Bezos tried to narrow his focus to emphasize economic and personal freedom.
The Post's comment section has been harassing for most of the past year. Just ahead of the November presidential election, the Post terminated its tradition of recognizing presidential candidates, a decision that sparked strong protests from readers and several comment staff. Shortly after, the Post's Pulitzer Prize winner Ann Telnaes resigned after criticizing Mr. Bezos' cartoon. Next was Mr. Shipley's departure, another shock to the staff.
Will Lewis, CEO of the position, said in a memo to employees that Mr. O'Neill “embodies our core values” and recognized that “the importance of ensuring our opinions coverage is relevant, accessible and outcomes for readers who feel unwelcome.”
“Our new direction is not a short-term change, nor is it aligned with any political party,” Lewis wrote.
The Washington Post has been exploring a plan to significantly increase the number of comment columns posted on its website. The project, known internally as Ripple, requires that the post be published by other news organizations, replace content from authors and even non-professional writers. The later phase of the program requires contributors to create columns under the guidance of the AI editing tool “Ember”, which has not yet made its debut. The new project will operate separately from the traditional opinion part that Mr O'Neal will oversee.
