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Essay
January 27, 2014

Has there been a political turn at the Washington Post?

Mike Rappaport

Interesting things are happening at the Washington Post.

1. The Volokh Conspiracy has moved to the Post’s website.

2. Libertarian reporter/blogger Radley Balko has moved to the Post.

3. Ezra Klein, an influential progressive columnist/blogger is leaving the Post.

Together, these represent a significant change in the Post’s website from progressivism towards libertarianism.

It is true that the Post, although a clearly liberal newspaper, has included conservative voices among its columnists, such as George Will and Charles Krauthammer. But this appears to be a move towards libertarians on the web.

The most obvious explanation for the change is that Jeff Bezos is changing the direction of the Post. There are some reports that Bezos leans libertarian, and he has donated to the organization that publishes Reason.

If it turns out that Bezos is moving the Post in a more libertarian direction, that would be a welcome change. Here’s hoping.

Professor Rappaport is Darling Foundation Professor of Law at the University of San Diego, where he also serves as the Director of the Center for the Study of Constitutional Originalism. Professor Rappaport is the author of numerous law review articles in journals such as the Yale Law Journal, the Virginia Law Review, the Georgetown Law Review, and the University of Pennsylvania Law Review. His book, Originalism and the Good Constitution, which is coauthored with John McGinnis, was published by the Harvard University Press in 2013.  Professor Rappaport is a graduate of the Yale Law School, where he received a JD and a DCL (Law and Political Theory).
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