Things are getting more and more testy at the Washington Post under the ownership of Jeff Bezos.
This week, Bezos announced a new editorial perspective for the Opinion section at the Post, the latest move by the Amazon founder and chairman that has been viewed as bowing to President Donald Trump and the new conservative administration. After Bezos instructed staffers in the section to focus on new “pillars” of free markets and personal liberties, longtime WaPo sports columnist Kevin Blackistone entered the fray on ESPN’s Around the Horn, firing a shot at his boss.
Discussing the recent overhaul of the Washington Commanders’ culture under new team owner Josh Harris, Blackistone referenced his outlet’s reporting on the team over the years, name-dropping Bezos for emphasis as he praised the staff’s work.
“The Washington Post actually went out and reported about that culture change, Jeff Bezos,” Blackistone said. “They went out and pointed out that the chefs for the team were changed. They hired James Beard-trained chefs. They’ve taken that over. They moved around the office space; they made sure that team units were together. That’s changing the culture.”
Washington Post sports columnist Kevin Blackistone had some words for Jeff Bezos on today’s ‘Around the Horn’ pic.twitter.com/EOiGH75V9k
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 27, 2025
Blackistone joined the Post in 2020 on the paper’s historic sports commentary staff, which features alums like Tony Kornheiser, Michael Wilbon, Shirley Povic and Sally Jenkins. In addition to his contributions to the Post, Blackistone is a sports journalism professor at the University of Maryland and one of the original contributors to ATH.
Clearly, as Bezos watches WaPo subscriptions plummet and staff leave en masse, nothing has changed the mogul’s course yet. It’s unlikely a stray comment from Blackistone will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back here. But if the frustrations with Bezos are reaching as far as the star sports columnist, we can say for certain it’s getting ugly over there.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.