WashPo loses 250,000 subscribers over dropping Harris endorsement
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Jeff Bezos reportedly killed a Kamala Harris endorsement piece when her nomination ran through, and instead ran an objective publication that endorses no candidate.
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People walk by One Franklin Square Building, home of the Washington Post newspaper on February 21, 2019. (AP)
Over 250,000 people have canceled their subscriptions to the Washington Post after its owner, Amazon mogul Jeff Bezos, ended the newspaper's history of endorsing presidential candidates. Bezos reportedly killed a Kamala Harris endorsement piece when her nomination ran through and ran instead an objective publication that endorses no candidate.
In an editorial published by WashPo's Will Lewis, he references a precedent of the journal's when it refrained from endorsing John F. Kennedy or Richard Nixon in the 1960 presidential election. Nixon was later implicated in the Watergate scandal, which consequently spawned 69 indictments and 48 criminal convictions, making it one of the most notorious political corruption scandals in US history.
In this context, Lewis refers to the 1960 decision and proposes three consequent viewpoints: Killing the story could be seen as "tacit endorsement of one candidate, or as a condemnation of another, or as an abdication of responsibility" but confirmed that for The Washington Post, endorsement is a show of value and faith in a leader that has "character and courage in service to the American ethic, veneration for the rule of law, and respect for human freedom in all its aspects."
The news sparked outrage among the Post's liberal readers, resulting in a 10% decline in subscriptions.
Three of the newspaper's 10 editorial board members have subsequently resigned, while 21 of The Washington Post's opinion columnists signed a statement calling the non-endorsement "a terrible mistake." According to them, "this isn't the right moment, when one candidate is advocating positions that directly threaten freedom of the press and the values of the Constitution."
Bezos: Eliminating endorsements helps restore faith in media
Bezos emphasized Monday that "presidential endorsements do nothing to tip the scales in an election," and "create a perception of bias."
He stated that eliminating them will help restore public faith in the media, pointing out that Americans currently consider journalists less trustworthy than Congress members.
According to a study conducted by the New York Times over the weekend, conventional media is less trusted than social media, and 55% of poll respondents believe the media is harmful to democracy.
It is worth noting that this would be the second newspaper that killed a Kamala Harris endorsement piece, following the Los Angeles Times.
USA Today, which has the fifth-largest print and fourth-largest digital subscriber base, announced on Tuesday that it and over 200 local papers will not endorse any candidates. Spokesperson Lark-Marie Antón stated, "We believe America’s future is decided locally – one race at a time," emphasizing their commitment to providing trusted information for informed decision-making.
