Overview
- Adam O'Neal told staff in a memo on Friday that he will step down and that his final day at The Washington Post will be August 31.
- O'Neal was hired last year to carry out owner Jeff Bezos's directive that the opinion page emphasize personal liberties and free markets.
- Post leadership says O'Neal's tenure produced measurable audience gains, reporting doubled time on site and triple-digit year-over-year growth in opinion pageviews.
- No successor has been named and publisher Jeff D'Onofrio said the paper will manage a leadership transition in the coming weeks.
- The overhaul overseen by O'Neal has drawn criticism from former editors who say owner-driven mandates risk editorial independence, and it came after rounds of layoffs that cut roughly one-third of the newsroom.