Following the publication’s declaration that it will not endorse the presidential candidates of this election or any others in the future, The Washington Post has received criticism from its readers.
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More than 200,000 readers reportedly canceled their subscriptions three days after the announcement. According to the New York Post, approximately 8% of the newspaper’s 2.5 million digital subscribers have opted to cancel. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and owner of the Washington Post, was reportedly involved in the decision. In an op-ed, he stated that presidential endorsements are not influential enough for undecided voters and “create a perception of bias.”
Several staff members resigned in protest after Washington Post publisher and CEO William Lewis was criticized for the announcement. Lewis stated that he decided to stop endorsements independently: “We nevertheless adhere to our tradition of non-endorsement in this presidential election. We have said and will continue to say, as reasonably and candidly as we know how, what we believe about the emerging issues of the campaign.”
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In another op-ed, Jeff Bezos addressed the massive unsubscriptions from readers:
Presidential endorsements do nothing to tip the scales of an election. No undecided voters in Pennsylvania are going to say, “I’m going with Newspaper A’s endorsement.” None. What presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias. A perception of non-independence. Ending them is a principled decision, and it’s the right one.
He clarified that neither he nor Lewis endorsed any presidential candidates, despite criticism from readers.
Neither campaign nor candidate was consulted or informed at any level or in any way about this decision. It was made entirely internally. Dave Limp, the chief executive of one of my companies, Blue Origin, met with former president Donald Trump on the day of our announcement. I sighed when I found out, because I knew it would provide ammunition to those who would like to frame this as anything other than a principled decision.
