Billionaire Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos on Monday defended the paper’s decision not to endorse a presidential candidate, a move that has sparked an intense backlash and staff resignations and prompted 200,000 people to cancel their digital subscriptions.
In an op-ed for the paper, Bezos wrote that presidential endorsements “do nothing to tip the balance of an election” and wrote, “No undecided voter in Pennsylvania is going to say, ‘I’m going to support Newspaper A’s endorsement.’” The billionaire then argued that presidential endorsements “create a perception of bias … of not independence” and that the decision to end them was a “principled decision.”
Bezos wrote that he wished “we had made the change sooner than we did, at a time further removed from the election and the emotions surrounding it,” but attributed the problem to “inadequate planning” rather than “any intentional strategy.” The Washington Post owner said there was no quid pro quo at play, and that neither the candidates nor their campaigns were consulted or informed about the decision beforehand.
Bezos cited surveys showing declining public trust in the media and framed the decision as an effort to restore confidence and avoid being replaced by “off-the-cuff podcasts, inaccurate social media posts and other unverified news sources.”
Crucial quote
“Most people believe the media is biased. Anyone who doesn’t see this is paying too little attention to reality, and those who fight it lose… On its own, refusing to endorse presidential candidates isn’t enough to move us much up the trust scale, but it’s a significant step in the right direction,” Bezos wrote.
Context
While noting that there was no “quid pro quo” in the decision, the billionaire did refer to former President Donald Trump’s meeting with Dave Limp, the chief executive of his rocket company Blue Origin, on the same day as the Washington Post’s announcement. “I sighed when I heard about it, because I knew it would provide ammunition to those who would want to frame this as anything other than a principled decision,” Bezos wrote. He said he knew nothing about the meeting beforehand, adding that even Limp was unaware of the Washington Post’s decision. “There is no connection between this and our decision on presidential endorsements, and any suggestion to the contrary is disingenuous.” The billionaire did, however, acknowledge that on the issue of conflict of interest, he was “not an ideal owner of The Post,” adding, “Every day, somewhere, some executive from Amazon or from Blue Origin or someone from the other philanthropic organizations and companies I own or invest in is meeting with government officials.”
Key Background
Bezos’ op-ed is his first public comment on the endorsement controversy after it was reported last week that the billionaire had intervened to block an endorsement of Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. The Post’s editorial board had already drafted an endorsement with the support of editorial page editor David Shipley , and the move “shocked” both the paper’s news and opinion journalists. The decision has led to the resignation of at least three editorial board members, and more than 200 staff members have written an open letter to the paper’s management asking for an explanation. Citing sources at the paper, NPR reported Monday that the public backlash against the decision has led to 200,000 people canceling their digital subscriptions, representing about 8% of the paper’s paid circulation.
