Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos (Image: AP/Invision/Brent N. Clarke) Even since 1976, in the wake of the Watergate scandal that the newspaper broke, The Washington Post has endorsed a presidential candidate. But this week it told staff it would not make an endorsement in 2024, nor in any future contests.
It was described by publisher and CEO Will Lewis as the paper “returning to our roots”. But the decision, reportedly the result of an edict from billionaire owner Jeff Bezos that overruled a call to endorse from the paper’s editorial board, has sparked a barrage of criticism, including from the paper’s staff and readership . A Kamala Harris endorsement had reportedly already been drafted.
Since the decision, the paper has lost over 200,000 digital subscriptions. NPR reports it represents approximately 8% of The Post’s total subscriber base. This American Carnage: The WaPo boycott, Harris reclaims the Ellipse, and it’s 1939 at Madison Square Gardens again.
Read More Close observers see the decision as a capitulation of business interests to the potential of a Trump presidency. Indeed, Bezos, who owns a number of other businesses with federal government contracts , has had a publicly tense relationship with Donald Trump. Executives from the Bezos-owned space exploration company Blue Origin met with Trump on the same day The Post’s non-endorsement was announced.
But outside the Washington paper, which media outlets are backing which candidate? And does it even mat.