WaPo Editor Quits, Staff Has Total Meltdown After Non-Endorsement Of Kamala Harris

[Collection]Tyler DurdenWaPo Editor Quits, Staff Has Total Meltdown After Non-Endorsement Of Kamala Harris

Update (1716ET): Time for another bag of popcorn!

In response to Jeff Bezos' decision not to endorse a presidential candidate this year, staff are having a total meltdown, liberals are canceling their subscriptions, and editor-at-large Robert Kagan (husband of Victoria Nuland) just quit.

According to Semafor, "people are shocked, furious, surprised," one WaPo editorial board member told the outlet, citing internal discussions involving resignation. "If you don’t have the balls to own a newspaper, don’t."

Meanwhile, the paper's chief technical officer is having engineers block reader questions about the non-endorsement on their internal system.

One editorial board member tells Brian Stelter that Bezos' decision is "an outrageous abdication of responsibility. Democracy doesn't die in darkness, it dies when people anticipatorily consent to a fascist's whims."

Subscriptions are being canceled. Reeee!

*  *  *

Update (1450ET): The Washington Post has shed light on their decision not to endorse a presidential candidate for the first time in more than 30 years, revealing that "The decision not to publish was made by The Post's owner - Amazon founder Jeff Bezos."

The paper also admits that a Harris endorsement had been drafted by staffers but Jeff killed it.

And employees are seething but not coping, according to Semafor's Max Tani.

What happened?

Look out, Jeff!

*  *  *

Three weeks ago, the Teamsters Union became the second major union to announce that they would not endorse a presidential candidate after internal polling revealed 58% of its members back Trump vs. 31% for Harris.

That was understandable - their own members overwhelmingly rejected Harris.

This is different.

On Friday, the Washington Post announced that it would not endorse a candidate for president either, for the first time in 36 years.

"The Washington Post will not be making an endorsement of a presidential candidate in this election. Nor in any future presidential election. We are returning to our roots of not endorsing presidential candidates," the outlet said in a statement.

Colleagues are said to be 'shocked' at the decision, according to NPR.

The editorial page editor, David Shipley, told colleagues that the Post's publisher, Will Lewis, would publish a note to readers online early Friday afternoon.

Shipley told colleagues the editorial board was told yesterday by management that there would not be an endorsement. He added that he "owns" this decision. The reason he cited was to create "independent space" where the newspaper does not tell people for whom to vote.

Colleagues were said to be "shocked" and uniformly negative. Post corporate spokespeople have not responded to multiple messages left by NPR on the subject.

As NPR's David Folkenflik notes on X, "It is not clear whether Post owner Jeff Bezos or Publisher/CEO Will Lewis made the call."

As Mario Nawfal noted on X,

The Post has primarily endorsed Democratic candidates for nearly a century, with only 3 Republicans since 1928.

Here’s a complete list of presidential candidates endorsed by The Washington Post since 1928, which highlights the significance of their 2024 decision to skip endorsements:

• 1932 to 1944: Franklin D. Roosevelt (Democrat)

• 1948: Thomas Dewey (Republican)

• 1952 & 1956: Dwight D. Eisenhower (Republican)

• 1960: John F. Kennedy (Democrat)

• 1964: Lyndon B. Johnson (Democrat)

• 1968: Hubert Humphrey (Democrat)

• 1972: George McGovern (Democrat)

• 1976 & 1980: Jimmy Carter (Democrat)

• 1984: Walter Mondale (Democrat)

• 1988: Michael Dukakis (Democrat)

• 1992 & 1996: Bill Clinton (Democrat)

• 2000: Al Gore (Democrat)

• 2004: John Kerry (Democrat)

• 2008: Barack Obama (Democrat)

• 2012: Barack Obama (Democrat)

• 2016: Hillary Clinton (Democrat)

• 2020: Joe Biden (Democrat)

The move comes after the Los Angeles Times similarly declined to endorse Harris - leading to the resignation of the paper's opinion editor, Marzel Garza.

Wow...

Developing...

 

Tyler Durden Fri, 10/25/2024 - 17:17WaPo Editor Quits, Staff Has Total Meltdown After Non-Endorsement Of Kamala Harris

Update (1716ET): Time for another bag of popcorn!

In response to Jeff Bezos' decision not to endorse a presidential candidate this year, staff are having a total meltdown, liberals are canceling their subscriptions, and editor-at-large Robert Kagan (husband of Victoria Nuland) just quit.

According to Semafor, "people are shocked, furious, surprised," one WaPo editorial board member told the outlet, citing internal discussions involving resignation. "If you don’t have the balls to own a newspaper, don’t."

Meanwhile, the paper's chief technical officer is having engineers block reader questions about the non-endorsement on their internal system.

One editorial board member tells Brian Stelter that Bezos' decision is "an outrageous abdication of responsibility. Democracy doesn't die in darkness, it dies when people anticipatorily consent to a fascist's whims."

Subscriptions are being canceled. Reeee!

*  *  *

Update (1450ET): The Washington Post has shed light on their decision not to endorse a presidential candidate for the first time in more than 30 years, revealing that "The decision not to publish was made by The Post's owner - Amazon founder Jeff Bezos."

The paper also admits that a Harris endorsement had been drafted by staffers but Jeff killed it.

And employees are seething but not coping, according to Semafor's Max Tani.

What happened?

Look out, Jeff!

*  *  *

Three weeks ago, the Teamsters Union became the second major union to announce that they would not endorse a presidential candidate after internal polling revealed 58% of its members back Trump vs. 31% for Harris.

That was understandable - their own members overwhelmingly rejected Harris.

This is different.

On Friday, the Washington Post announced that it would not endorse a candidate for president either, for the first time in 36 years.

"The Washington Post will not be making an endorsement of a presidential candidate in this election. Nor in any future presidential election. We are returning to our roots of not endorsing presidential candidates," the outlet said in a statement.

Colleagues are said to be 'shocked' at the decision, according to NPR.

The editorial page editor, David Shipley, told colleagues that the Post's publisher, Will Lewis, would publish a note to readers online early Friday afternoon.

Shipley told colleagues the editorial board was told yesterday by management that there would not be an endorsement. He added that he "owns" this decision. The reason he cited was to create "independent space" where the newspaper does not tell people for whom to vote.

Colleagues were said to be "shocked" and uniformly negative. Post corporate spokespeople have not responded to multiple messages left by NPR on the subject.

As NPR's David Folkenflik notes on X, "It is not clear whether Post owner Jeff Bezos or Publisher/CEO Will Lewis made the call."

As Mario Nawfal noted on X,

The Post has primarily endorsed Democratic candidates for nearly a century, with only 3 Republicans since 1928.

Here’s a complete list of presidential candidates endorsed by The Washington Post since 1928, which highlights the significance of their 2024 decision to skip endorsements:

• 1932 to 1944: Franklin D. Roosevelt (Democrat)

• 1948: Thomas Dewey (Republican)

• 1952 & 1956: Dwight D. Eisenhower (Republican)

• 1960: John F. Kennedy (Democrat)

• 1964: Lyndon B. Johnson (Democrat)

• 1968: Hubert Humphrey (Democrat)

• 1972: George McGovern (Democrat)

• 1976 & 1980: Jimmy Carter (Democrat)

• 1984: Walter Mondale (Democrat)

• 1988: Michael Dukakis (Democrat)

• 1992 & 1996: Bill Clinton (Democrat)

• 2000: Al Gore (Democrat)

• 2004: John Kerry (Democrat)

• 2008: Barack Obama (Democrat)

• 2012: Barack Obama (Democrat)

• 2016: Hillary Clinton (Democrat)

• 2020: Joe Biden (Democrat)

The move comes after the Los Angeles Times similarly declined to endorse Harris - leading to the resignation of the paper's opinion editor, Marzel Garza.

Wow...

Developing...

 

Tyler Durden Fri, 10/25/2024 - 17:17https://www.zerohedge.com/political/wapo-bails-kamala-wont-make-presidential-endorsement2024-10-25T21:17:14.000Z2024-10-25T21:17:14.000Z
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