Glenn Kessler, the longtime face of The Washington Post’s “Pinocchio” fact-checking column, has taken a buyout and is exiting the paper—with no successor in place.
His departure highlights deeper turbulence inside the Post amid buyouts, resignations, and a shifting editorial direction.
Key Facts:
- Glenn Kessler, editor of The Washington Post’s Fact Checker column, is leaving on July 31 after 27 years at the paper.
- Kessler cited financial considerations as his reason for accepting a buyout, despite wanting to stay.
- No replacement has been named for Kessler, who produced over 3,000 fact-checks since 2011.
- The Post is undergoing leadership and editorial changes under CEO Will Lewis and owner Jeff Bezos.
- Several prominent staff, including columnists and editors, have also exited in recent months.
The Rest of The Story:
Glenn Kessler, who spent nearly 15 years running The Washington Post’s Fact Checker column, announced on Facebook that he’s leaving the paper at the end of July.
Despite wanting to continue his work, he said financial factors pushed him to accept the paper’s buyout offer.
Since launching the Fact Checker column in 2011, Kessler said he wrote or edited over 3,000 fact checks.
He described his role as “the best job in journalism” and lamented the fact that no replacement was lined up before his exit.
“I didn’t want The Post to have a gap in fact-checking coverage during this fraught period in U.S. history,” he wrote. “But we couldn’t work out an agreement.”
Kessler emphasized the global expansion of the fact-checking movement and claimed his articles were often the most-read on the Post’s site.
He also admitted to having critics across the political spectrum but believed many readers appreciated his work.
His departure comes during a broader wave of buyouts across the Post.
Other notable names—like Jonathan Capehart, Catherine Rampell, and Philip Bump—have also exited.
Opinion editor David Shipley resigned after Jeff Bezos insisted on editorial standards that favored “personal liberties and free markets.”
Post CEO Will Lewis acknowledged the shift in an internal memo, stating, “If we want to reconnect with our audience and continue to defend democracy, more changes at The Post will be necessary.”
He invited staff not aligned with the paper’s new direction to take the exit package while it was still available.
Commentary:
Glenn Kessler’s departure may seem like a minor shake-up on the surface, but it underscores a deeper issue: the collapse of institutional trust in media “fact checkers.”
While Kessler painted his role as an impartial truth-teller, millions saw something else—an ideological enforcer cloaked in objectivity.
The problem isn’t just Kessler. It’s the entire “fact-checking” industry that claims to referee the truth while often silencing disagreement.
In many cases, so-called fact checks read more like opinion pieces aimed at discrediting narratives that challenge elite consensus.
When Kessler’s team assembled a database of over 30,000 Trump “falsehoods,” it wasn’t about facts—it was about building a weaponized archive used to bludgeon political opponents.
Meanwhile, obvious deception from favored figures often escaped with a shrug or a technicality.
This isn’t journalism. It’s propaganda dressed up in graphs and Pinocchio heads.
Americans don’t need overlords telling them what to believe. They need transparency, not condescension.
The rise of independent media has only made the gatekeeping model obsolete.
Let’s be clear: in a free country, the very idea of centralized fact-checking is offensive. It assumes the public can’t reason for themselves.
In practice, it’s used to censor and steer. We’ve already seen how this spirals out of control in places like Canada, Europe, and Australia.
Kessler may be retiring to write books, but his legacy won’t be one of courage or honesty.
It’ll be remembered as part of an industry that tried to police speech instead of promote truth.
So yes, farewell to Glenn Kessler. But also, good riddance. His exit is one more crack in a dying institution that lost its credibility long ago.
The Bottom Line:
Glenn Kessler’s exit from The Washington Post marks the end of an era for the paper’s controversial fact-checking arm.
With no successor named and the newsroom in flux, the Post faces deeper questions about its editorial future.
As corporate media continues its transformation, readers are turning elsewhere for truth—beyond the narrative filters once disguised as fact.
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