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.
You know I think we should really lament the resignation of a man who cheered on a war that kept American men and women rotating overseas for 20 years because he said we all needed 'the stomach' for democracy building and that only the US could do it. And then it failed. https://t.co/DOMWvP3xyS pic.twitter.com/NflSFBD0as
— Kelley B. Vlahos (@KelleyBVlahos) October 25, 2024
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.
Mini update: The furor at the WaPo is such that its chief tech officer is getting engineers to block Qs about its decision to not make an endorsement pm the Post's own AI site search,
— David Folkenflik (@davidfolkenflik) October 25, 2024
This according to internal WP correspondence I've reviewed
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."
you'll need like size 4 font for all that to fit on the masthead https://t.co/n6OcHCVuG6
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) October 25, 2024
Subscriptions are being canceled. Reeee!
"I canceled my WaPo subscription because they betrayed a free press and free country by not endorsing a candidate for president."
— Russell (@theramblingfool) October 25, 2024
We are so brain dead as a society; we have fully earned the downward spiral we find ourselves in. pic.twitter.com/ttkgWog9eB
* * *
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.
Post newsroom reports that a Harris endorsement had been drafted by editorial page staffers but that owner @JeffBezos made decision not to publish. @PostBaron: "History will mark a disturbing chapter of spinelessness at an institution famed for courage" https://t.co/l246YxZ3pz
— Drew Harwell (@drewharwell) October 25, 2024
And employees are seething but not coping, according to Semafor's Max Tani.
Opinion staff at WaPo are furious about the paper's endorsement decision. Several are contemplating what action to take, ranging from resigning, quitting the board, or a statement. "If you don't have the balls to own a newspaper, don't," one Post opinion employee tells me.
— Max Tani (@maxwelltani) October 25, 2024
Mini update: The furor at the WaPo is such that its chief tech officer is getting engineers to block Qs about its decision to not make an endorsement pm the Post's own AI site search,
— David Folkenflik (@davidfolkenflik) October 25, 2024
This according to internal WP correspondence I've reviewed
What happened?
Bezos has spent 5 years plowing TRT.
— TastefulLindy (@LindyTasteful) October 25, 2024
He's probably on Team Trump now https://t.co/1e8UC2riVd pic.twitter.com/kuKPOja0eJ
Look out, Jeff!
"Jeff Bezos groped me in 1992" pic.twitter.com/QSA5hlk069
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) October 25, 2024
* * *
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.
new: Washington Post publisher Will Lewis explains why The Post won’t be endorsing for president: pic.twitter.com/Zn0o655UIz
— Ben Mullin (@BenMullin) October 25, 2024
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."
The decision was revealed in a tense meeting with people on the editorial staff
— David Folkenflik (@davidfolkenflik) October 25, 2024
And it arrives at a time of heightened concern over whether news outles are pulling their punches in order to appease Trump in final days of a neck and neck presidential race agst VP Harris MORE
WaPo resignation exodus in 5, 4, 3...
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) October 25, 2024
... and ironically they will all have to pitch their Elon-hating substacks on X
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.
Another liberal newspaper refuses to endorse Kamala over the man she compares to Hitler. She’s toast… https://t.co/Y53XQVWix0
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) October 25, 2024
Washington Post chose Hitler over Taylor Lorenz
— Billionaire Chimp (@ChimpWithMoney) October 25, 2024
Wow...
Developing...
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.
You know I think we should really lament the resignation of a man who cheered on a war that kept American men and women rotating overseas for 20 years because he said we all needed 'the stomach' for democracy building and that only the US could do it. And then it failed. https://t.co/DOMWvP3xyS pic.twitter.com/NflSFBD0as
— Kelley B. Vlahos (@KelleyBVlahos) October 25, 2024
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.
Mini update: The furor at the WaPo is such that its chief tech officer is getting engineers to block Qs about its decision to not make an endorsement pm the Post's own AI site search,
— David Folkenflik (@davidfolkenflik) October 25, 2024
This according to internal WP correspondence I've reviewed
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."
you'll need like size 4 font for all that to fit on the masthead https://t.co/n6OcHCVuG6
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) October 25, 2024
Subscriptions are being canceled. Reeee!
"I canceled my WaPo subscription because they betrayed a free press and free country by not endorsing a candidate for president."
— Russell (@theramblingfool) October 25, 2024
We are so brain dead as a society; we have fully earned the downward spiral we find ourselves in. pic.twitter.com/ttkgWog9eB
* * *
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.
Post newsroom reports that a Harris endorsement had been drafted by editorial page staffers but that owner @JeffBezos made decision not to publish. @PostBaron: "History will mark a disturbing chapter of spinelessness at an institution famed for courage" https://t.co/l246YxZ3pz
— Drew Harwell (@drewharwell) October 25, 2024
And employees are seething but not coping, according to Semafor's Max Tani.
Opinion staff at WaPo are furious about the paper's endorsement decision. Several are contemplating what action to take, ranging from resigning, quitting the board, or a statement. "If you don't have the balls to own a newspaper, don't," one Post opinion employee tells me.
— Max Tani (@maxwelltani) October 25, 2024
Mini update: The furor at the WaPo is such that its chief tech officer is getting engineers to block Qs about its decision to not make an endorsement pm the Post's own AI site search,
— David Folkenflik (@davidfolkenflik) October 25, 2024
This according to internal WP correspondence I've reviewed
What happened?
Bezos has spent 5 years plowing TRT.
— TastefulLindy (@LindyTasteful) October 25, 2024
He's probably on Team Trump now https://t.co/1e8UC2riVd pic.twitter.com/kuKPOja0eJ
Look out, Jeff!
"Jeff Bezos groped me in 1992" pic.twitter.com/QSA5hlk069
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) October 25, 2024
* * *
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.
new: Washington Post publisher Will Lewis explains why The Post won’t be endorsing for president: pic.twitter.com/Zn0o655UIz
— Ben Mullin (@BenMullin) October 25, 2024
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."
The decision was revealed in a tense meeting with people on the editorial staff
— David Folkenflik (@davidfolkenflik) October 25, 2024
And it arrives at a time of heightened concern over whether news outles are pulling their punches in order to appease Trump in final days of a neck and neck presidential race agst VP Harris MORE
WaPo resignation exodus in 5, 4, 3...
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) October 25, 2024
... and ironically they will all have to pitch their Elon-hating substacks on X
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.
Another liberal newspaper refuses to endorse Kamala over the man she compares to Hitler. She’s toast… https://t.co/Y53XQVWix0
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) October 25, 2024
Washington Post chose Hitler over Taylor Lorenz
— Billionaire Chimp (@ChimpWithMoney) October 25, 2024
Wow...
Developing...