‘The Washington Post’ loses over 200,000 subscribers after Bezos blocks support for Harris in USA election

owner’s decision Washington Post, Jeff Bezos’s attempt to stop newspapers from showing his support for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is backfiring for the media. According to semi-public radio group NPR, citing unnamed sources, more than 200,000 subscribers have requested to unsubscribe. Not all cancellations take effect immediately, as many readers have annual subscriptions. This figure, which is continuously increasing, represents 8% of the total 2.5 million digital subscriptions and paper newspaper subscriptions. Post.

The newspaper’s opinion section had already prepared text supporting the Democratic nominee against Donald Trump. He Post He has been seeking votes for one of the two candidates since 1976, when he spoke in favor of Jimmy Carter. Before that, except in 1952, I had not done this. In the last two elections I supported the Democratic candidates, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, against Donald Trump. The company’s CEO presented the decision as a return to the roots, but that argument has not convinced opinion section members, the news editorial staff or the newspaper’s former pride.

The decision has led to resignations within the editorial board, which so far consists of 10 members, including Opinion director David Shipley. Three of its members, David E. Hoffman, Molly Roberts and Millie Mitra, announced Monday that they were leaving, although they will remain at the newspaper. “This is extremely difficult for us because we built this institution,” Hoffman said in an interview with the outlet to explain his decision to resign. “But we cannot abandon our American democracy or The Post,” said the veteran journalist, who has been with the newspaper for 42 years and who last Thursday received a Pulitzer Prize for his column on autocracy. “I believe that we face a real threat of authoritarianism in the candidacy of Donald Trump,” he wrote in his resignation letter.

Roberts said he decided to resign “because the imperative to support Kamala Harris over Donald Trump is as clear as morally possible.” The journalist says, “Donald Trump is not a dictator yet, but the quieter we stay, the closer he will be, because dictators do not need to order the press to cooperate… The press knows this and itself Censors.” Who writes columns about technology and society, in addition to being part of the editorial board.

Bezos himself has tried to justify his decision through an article published in the newspaper this Monday under the title The harsh truth: Americans don’t trust the media. ,Most people believe that the media is biased. Anyone who doesn’t see it that way barely pays attention to reality, and anyone who fights against reality loses. Reality is an undefeated champion. It would be easy to blame others for the chronic decline in our credibility (and hence the decline in our influence), but a victim mentality will not help,” he said.

According to Bezos, “The President’s endorsement does nothing to tip the balance of the election. No undecided voter in Pennsylvania will say, ‘I will support Newspaper A.’ nobody. The President’s support creates a perception of bias. The concept of non-independence. Eliminating them is a principled decision and it is right,” he added.

The newspaper owner is facing criticism from those who say the decision was made to be able to do business with the administration if Trump wins. “I would also like to clarify that there is no vendetta of any kind here. No campaign or candidate was consulted or informed about this decision at any level or in any way. It was taken completely internally,” he explains, before admitting, “I’m not a perfect owner when it comes to conflicts of interest.” Post. Every day, somewhere, some executive from Amazon or Blue Origin or someone from other foundations and companies that I own or invest in meets with government officials.” However, he says that in 2013 Since purchasing the newspaper in 1995, he has never imposed any decision based on his special interests.

And he concludes forcefully: “Although I do not and will not defend my personal interest, I will not allow this newspaper to remain on autopilot and become irrelevant, beyond the chatter of podcasts and social networks without research. I will leave. Not without a fight. This is very important. There is a lot at stake. Now more than ever, the world needs a credible, trustworthy and independent voice, and what better place for it to emerge than the capital of the world’s most important country? To win this battle we have to exercise new muscles. Some changes will be a return to the past, and others will be new innovations. Of course, criticism will be part of everything new. This is the world. None of this will be easy, but it will be worth it,” he writes.

Among those who first criticized the change in status Post, Marty Baron, who was the newspaper’s director, described it as an act of cowardice. This Monday he gave an interview to NPR in which he provided further clarification about his rejection. “If this decision had been made three years ago, two years ago, maybe even a year ago, it would have been fine,” Barron said. “It is definitely a fair decision. But it was taken a few weeks before the election, and there was no serious discussion with the newspaper’s editorial board. He said, “It was clearly taken for other reasons, not for reasons of high principle.”

decision of Washington Post Refraining from supporting any candidate and following another candidate in the same sense Los Angeles Times. They joined this Monday USA Today and the entire network of Gannett Group newspapers to which it belongs. More than 200 different publications are distributed throughout the country, including The Arizona Republic, The Des Moines Register and The Detroit Free Press. None of these more than 200 media outlets will endorse either of the two presidential candidates, although they will be able to comment on state and local elections as they deem appropriate.