Bezos Ends Washington Post's 30-Year Endorsements; Editorial Board Members Resign Amid Media Trust Concerns

Oct 28, 2024, 11:50 PM

The Washington Post announced that it will not endorse a candidate in the upcoming 2024 presidential election, ending a 30-year tradition of presidential endorsements. The decision, revealed on Friday, was reportedly influenced by the paper's owner, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who expressed reservations about issuing an endorsement during a meeting with senior editors in Miami in late September. Several members of The Washington Post's editorial board, including Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Hoffman, Molly Roberts, and Mili Mitra, resigned from the board in response to the decision, though they will remain at the newspaper in other capacities. The move has sparked internal turmoil and criticism from both staff and readers, with reports indicating that over 200,000 subscribers canceled their digital subscriptions following the announcement. Bezos defended the decision in a rare op-ed titled "The hard truth: Americans don’t trust the news media," published on Monday. He stated that presidential endorsements do not influence election outcomes but instead contribute to perceptions of media bias, noting, "Our profession is now the least trusted of all." Bezos emphasized the need to address the credibility gap afflicting the media industry and denied any "quid pro quo of any kind" with any candidate. He stated that ending endorsements is a principled decision aimed at reinforcing journalistic independence. The Washington Post had previously endorsed Democratic candidates, including Joe Biden in 2020 and Hillary Clinton in 2016. The paper's decision not to endorse a candidate this year reflects broader concerns about declining public trust in media. Bezos acknowledged that "most people believe the media is biased" and stressed that the credibility gap can be bridged by maintaining independence.