Washington Post union and staff rebel against decision not to support a presidential candidate, blame Bezos

Washington Post employees are revolting after the newspaper “Democracy Dies in Darkness” announced that it would not support a candidate in the 2024 presidential election.

On Friday, Post publisher and CEO William Lewis announced that the newspaper will not provide a presidential endorsement in this year or any future presidential election. “We’re going back to our roots of not endorsing presidential candidates,” Lewis said.

Shortly thereafter, the Washington Post Guild issued a scathing statement condemning the decision.

“We are deeply concerned that the Washington Post, an American news organization based in the nation’s capital, will decide to no longer endorse presidential candidates, especially just 11 days before a hugely important election. The role of an Editorial Board, the Guild, is to do just that: protect our society and “We support candidates to share our views on news that impacts our culture and provide guidance to readers,” he said.

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The Guild continued: “A message from our chief executive, Will Lewis (and not from the Editorial Board itself), concerns us that management is interfering with the work of members at the Editorial.” “According to our own reporters and Guild members, a draft endorsement for Harris had already been prepared and the decision not to publish was made by The Post owner Jeff Bezos.”

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The Guild added: “We are already seeing cancellations from once loyal readers. This decision undermines the work of our members at a time when we need to build, not lose, the trust of our readers.”

The Guild published a post with a link encouraging the action, saying: “A Washington Post reader, are you concerned about today’s decision by the Editorial Board not to endorse a candidate this election cycle? A letter to CEO and Publisher Will Lewis and Editorial Page Submit Editor David Shipley.”

Feature editor Robert Kagan resigned due to decisionand former executive editor Martin “Marty” Baron condemned it as “cowardice.”

Baron wrote to

Washington Post columnist and associate editor Karen Tumulty republished Baron’s message.

Post-climate change reporter Brianna Sacks also retweeted Baron and wrote in reaction to news of the decision: “We won a Pulitzer for public service for our coverage of the January 6 insurrection.”

A former senior Washington Post staffer also sided with Baron, calling the “clumsy” decision.

“He draws false equivalences in a very disingenuous way,” they told Fox News Digital. “This isn’t, say, Kamala Harris versus Mitt Romney. This is Kamala Harris versus someone who tried to disenfranchise voters last time.”

“And if you’re going to decide that it’s not the editorial board’s job to approve, then don’t endorse it. Don’t endorse it for the Senate. Don’t endorse it for the House. Just don’t endorse it,” they continued. .

Former staff said they were “shocked” and “deeply disappointed” by their distressed former colleague and said current staff thought the explanation given was a “fig leaf”.

“I hear they are absolutely inundated with unsubscribes,” the source said.

They told Fox News Digital: “To this day, I’m truly not ashamed of The Post. ‘The first mission of a newspaper is to tell as close to the truth as possible.’ This is a quote from Eugene Meyer’s Principles of the Post. Today’s decision is a despicable abdication of those principles.”

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The former Post staffer warned of the “chilling effect” this could have on the newsroom as a result.

“You know it’s an editorial problem. There was a real church/state divide. But I know there are people in editorial who are rooted in the newsroom, and that bothers me,” they said. “And I think people in the newsroom are thinking: ‘If they killed an endorsement, can a story be far behind?’ And Lewis has certainly expressed a willingness to at least try it. If Trump wins, anyone in their right mind would want you to be covering this administration for The Post, always looking over your shoulder to see if the publisher or its owner will do so. It has a chilling effect on you.”

Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah turned to X to chastise her employer.

“Today was a complete stab in the back. What an insult to those of us who literally risk our careers and lives to call out threats to human rights and democracy,” Attiah wrote.

In his own publication in The Post’s Style section reported“The decision upset many with The Post’s editorial staff, which operates independently of the news team, a long-standing tradition in American journalism designed to separate opinion writing from daily news.”

Health reporter Fenit Nirappil tweeted about the report, “Our news side continues to report fearlessly. Even when it comes to our own bosses.”

He added images of two specific quotes:

“According to two sources briefed on the course of events who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, an endorsement of Harris had been prepared by the Post’s editorial staff but had not yet been published. According to the same sources, the publication was published by The Post. It is owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.”

“This is cowardice, a moment of darkness that will leave democracy lost. Donald Trump will celebrate this as an invitation to further intimidate The Post owner Jeff Bezos (and other media owners),” said Martin Baron, the Post’s former editor-in-chief. . In the text message he sent to The Post, it was stated that Trump managed the newspaper while he was president. “History will mark a disturbing period of spinelessness in an institution renowned for its courage.”

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A source close to Washington Post leadership claimed: Fox News Digital He said Bezos was not involved in the decision. But a separate source who spoke to Fox News Digital thinks otherwise, citing The Post’s own reporting that claimed the billionaire directly intervened.

“If it had been announced before the candidates were announced, it would have made sense for him not to be confirmed. But the fact that he did this 11 days before the election shows that Bezos is worried that he will lose government contracts if Trump wins. So this signals that the intimidation is working.” current Post staffer told Fox News Digital. “Trump has certainly caused trouble in Bezos’ presidency by terminating a major cloud computing contract and meddling with the Amazon mail contract. So he knows how expensive a second term could be if Trump is upset with our coverage.”

The staff also noted that Baron was “seen as a hero” because of his X post, adding that he “framed the risks precisely.”

According to Lewis, the Post’s current leader, the source said he “lost the newsroom.”

“I wouldn’t trust a word Will Lewis or any of his people say,” the staffer told Fox News Digital. “He lost the newsroom over the summer. He never shows his face anymore. We get emails weekly. That’s it. He used to hang around the newsroom, but apparently he knows he’s not welcome.”

A Post spokesperson declined to comment further but reiterated that this was a “Washington Post decision.”

11 Opinion columnists wrote A statement called the decision “a terrible mistake”.

“The Washington Post’s decision not to endorse the presidential campaign is a terrible mistake. It represents an abandonment of the core editorial convictions of the newspaper we love and have worked for a total of 275 years. This is a moment that recognizes the institution’s commitment to democratic values, the rule of law and international alliances, and Donald Trump.” “He needs to make clear the threat he poses to them; these are the exact points The Post made in support of Trump’s opponents in 2016 and 2020.” they said.

“There is no contradiction between The Post’s important role as an independent newspaper and its practice of both mentoring readers and providing political support as an expression of core beliefs. This has never been more true than in the current campaign. An independent newspaper may one day be short of a presidential endorsement.” “He may choose to opt out, but this is not the right time when a candidate advocates positions that directly threaten the freedom of the press and the values ​​of the Constitution.”

Signed by Perry Bacon Jr., EJ Dionne Jr., Lee Hockstader, David Ignatius, Heather Long, Ruth Marcus, Dana Milbank, Catherine Rampell, Eugene Robinson, Jennifer Rubin and Karen Tumulty.

Mail It was published Editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes’s illustration, titled “Democracy Dies in Darkness,” looked exactly like strokes of black paint.

Noted Post Watergate reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein issued a statement: “We respect the traditional independence of the editorial page, but this decision, made 12 days before the 2024 presidential election, ignores the Washington Post’s own overwhelming reporting evidence of the threat posed by Donald Trump.” The Washington Post’s news operation, owned by Jeff Bezos, has used its ample resources to meticulously investigate the danger and damage a Trump second presidency could pose to the future of American democracy, which makes this decision in particular all the more surprising and disappointing. “Towards the end of the election process.”

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In the political world, former Biden advisor Susan Rice wrote numerous posts expressing her anger.

“As a D.C. native and lifelong Post subscriber, I’m disgusted. You’ve lost us,” he wrote, adding, “So much for ‘Democracy Dies in Darkness.’ This is the most hypocritical, cowardly s(- –) who should hold the people in power accountable acting from a publication.”

He responded to a report by a Washington Post editorial board member criticizing the decision: “So what are they going to do about it? The entire Post editorial department should pull out.”

“This is what oligarchy is all about. Jeff Bezos, the 2nd richest person in the world and owner of the Washington Post, overrules the editorial board and refuses to support Kamala. He is clearly afraid of turning on Trump and losing Amazon’s federal contracts. Pathetic,” he said. wrote Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

This article will be updated as more responses come in…

Original article source: Washington Post union and staff rebel against decision not to support a presidential candidate, blame Bezos