Jeff Bezos Reportedly Stops Washington Post From Making a Presidential Endorsement

The Washington Post won’t marque an endorsement for president this year. Ben Mullin from the New York Times archetypal reported the news, which was confirmed by the quality enactment soon thereafter.

The announcement follows the aforesaid determination from the Los Angeles Times earlier this week, prompting a apical editor to resign.

David Shipley, the Post’s editorial leafage director, held a gathering with unit soon earlier the announcement went out, a gathering which has been described arsenic “tense” according to NPR. He told unit that helium “owns” the decision, and that the Post made the determination to halt endorsing candidates successful bid to make an “independent space” wherever the paper does not archer radical who they should ballot for.

This is the archetypal clip the Post has not endorsed a campaigner since 1988, though Shipley says the determination returns the Post to its argumentation successful the decades anterior to 1976. It began endorsing candidates again aft the Post broke the Watergate scandal.

Marty Baron, the Post‘s legendary erstwhile enforcement editor, expressed his displeasure connected X, posting:

“This is cowardice, with ideology arsenic its casualty. @realdonaldtrump volition spot this arsenic an invitation to further intimidate proprietor @jeffbezos (and others). Disturbing spinelessness astatine an instauration famed for courage.”

For his part, Jeff Bezos hasn’t addressed the concern publicly. His past nationalist station connected X came connected July 13th, the time idiosyncratic attempted to sprout Trump astatine a rally successful Pennsylvania. “Our erstwhile President showed tremendous grace and courageousness nether literal occurrence tonight,” Bezos wrote. “So thankful for his information and truthful bittersweet for the victims and their families.”

NPR’s David Folkenflik tweeted, however, that sources adjacent to the substance bespeak the determination was successful information made by Post proprietor and Amazon laminitis Jeff Bezos. Folkenflik says that Bezos hired the Post’s caller CEO Will Lewis successful portion “because of his pedigree successful dealing with blimpish powerfulness centers.”

Political endorsements made by newspapers similar the Post astir apt don’t substance much, if astatine all. In today’s hyper-partisan world, the electorate are beauteous hardened successful their views and aren’t going to beryllium swayed by a work they are convinced is biased 1 mode oregon another. An endorsement of Harris by the Post is conscionable preaching to the choir. The bigger contented is—if it’s existent that Bezos made the call—management making these decisions from supra alternatively than allowing editors to marque the editorial decisions. In the lawsuit of the LA Times, the determination to extremity endorsements was reportedly made by billionaire biotech capitalist Patrick Soon-Shiong, who has a past of intervening successful the organization’s reporting.

And the timing successful peculiarly is galling. Are these owners aiming to appease an antagonistic Trump successful the lawsuit that helium wins the presidency? We don’t truly know, but newsrooms are expected to beryllium autarkic of management. Especially successful the look of a campaigner similar Trump who speaks successful falsehoods and poses a morganatic menace to autarkic media. Just precocious helium has said that CBS should lose its quality to broadcast connected the airwaves implicit an interrogation with Kamala Harris that was edited, adjacent though caller interviews of Trump himself person besides been heavily edited.

Looking astatine the Post nether Bezos, his way grounds heretofore is beauteous good. The paper has continued to critically study connected Amazon and Bezos himself since helium bought it, for instance. And Bezos did not bash overmuch during to engender himself to Trump during his presidency. Trump ruthlessly attacked Bezos implicit his ownership of the Washington Post, successful 1 lawsuit seeking to jack up USPS shipping rates for Amazon successful retaliation to unfavorable sum (the institution has been reducing its reliance connected USPS). Bezos for his portion kept quiescent and allowed the pugnacious reporting to continue.

At the aforesaid time, billionaires similar Bezos are often immune from existent consequence, truthful it’s imaginable that helium sees Trump successful a antithetic airy than everyone else. Many of tech’s elites person been circling the wagons to enactment Trump—perhaps Bezos tin compartmentalize attacks connected the Post if helium believes Trump would beryllium amended for tech and the affluent elite. If helium deliberation Trump is going to win, possibly Bezos has made a calculated determination present to not poke the bear.

We person reached retired to the Washington Post for comment.