#Bezos ended the #WashingtonPost‘s decades-long tradition of presidential endorsements—& scrapped a planned #endorsement of #KamalaHarris—last fall, & he appeared alongside other #tech *leaders* [#technocrats / #oligarchs] at Trump’s inauguration…. He also donated $1M to #Trump’s inaugural cmte.

[Video] #HarrisonFord issues #revenge #warning as #Hollywood #legend reveals #presidential #endorsement for #VicePresident #KamalaHarris.

“The truth is this, Kamala Harris will #protect your #right to #disagree with her about #policies or #ideas. “The other guy, he #demands #unquestioningloyalty, says he wants revenge.”

https://www.the-independent.com/tv/news/harrison-ford-president-endorsement-kamla-harris-revenge-b2640817.html

It came after additional discussion between #Bezos & the 2 #WashingtonPost leaders, Shipley & Lewis, who privately made a case not to abandon the tradition so close to an #election. The #editorial board had already drafted an #endorsement of VP #KamalaHarris, though Bezos did not read it before his decision, Lewis said in a statement on Saturday.

The decision by Bezos had been in the making for wks. It is not clear what motivated his final determination or its timing.

“One person familiar w/the figures told Semafor that the decision already seemed to be impacting subscriptions. In the 24hrs ending Friday afternoon, about 2,000 subscribers canceled their subscriptions, an unusually high number, an employee said. Another email that the #WashingtonPost sent out to subscribers on Fri also prompted a flurry of complaints from readers about the paper’s lack of an #endorsement.”

#democracy #FourthEstate #journalism #media #acquiescence #WaPo
https://www.semafor.com/article/10/25/2024/editor-resign-subscribers-cancel-as-washington-post-non-endorsement-prompts-crisis-at-bezos-paper

Maraniss, who also served as The #WashingtonPost’s lead reporter during Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, has provided an excoriating statement to the Daily Beast after #JeffBezos’ decision was confirmed by #WillLewis, the paper’s disempowered CEO.

Two sources told #WaPo’s reporters that #Bezos personally rejected an #endorsement of #KamalaHarris drafted by the paper’s editorial page staffers.

Top #Editors Eviscerate #JeffBezos’ Decision to Kill #WaPo Endorsement

David Maraniss, an associate editor at The #WashingtonPost – whose coverage of Bill Clinton at the paper won him the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting – has spoken for many in The Post’s newsroom over #Bezos’ decision to kill an #endorsement of #KamalaHarris for president.

#democracy #FourthEstate #journalism #media #acquiescence
https://www.thedailybeast.com/top-editors-eviscerate-jeff-bezos-decision-to-kill-washington-post-kamala-harris-endorsement/

In his memoir, Collision of Power, Baron wrote that then-Publisher Fred Ryan did not want to make an #endorsement in the 2016 race pitting #Trump against former Secretary of State #HillaryClinton.

Then-#Editorial Page Editor Fred Hiatt considered resigning. #Bezos's reply at the time: "Why wouldn't we make an endorsement?"

Shipley told colleagues the decision to endorse was being reviewed by the paper's #billionaire owner, #JeffBezos. That's the owner's prerogative & common practice.
On Fri, Shipley said that he told other #editorial board leaders on Thurs that mgmt had decided there would be no #endorsement, though Shipley had known about the decision for a while. He added that he "owns" this outcome. The reason he cited was to create "independent space" where the newspaper does not tell people for whom to #vote.

More on The #WashingtonPost’s #acquiescence from NPR:

Colleagues learned the news from the #editorial page editor, #DavidShipley, at a tense meeting shortly before #WillLewis' announcement. The meeting was characterized by 2 people w/direct knowledge of discussions….

Shipley had approved an #editorial #endorsement for #KamalaHarris that was being drafted earlier this month, acc/to 3 people w/direct knowledge.

#democracy #FourthEstate #journalism #media #WaPo
https://www.npr.org/2024/10/25/nx-s1-5165353/washington-post-presidential-endorsement-trump-harris

And straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak:

“An #endorsement of #KamalaHarris had been drafted by The #WashingtonPost editorial page staffers but had yet to be published, acc/to 2 sources briefed on the sequence of events who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The decision not to publish was made by #WaPo’s owner — #Amazon founder #JeffBezos — acc/to the same sources.”

#democracy #FourthEstate #journalism #media
https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2024/10/25/washington-post-endorsement-president/

“This is #cowardice, w/ #democracy as its casualty,” #MartyBaron said in a post…. He added that #Trump would see it as an invitation to continue to try to intimidate #JeffBezos. “Disturbing #spinelessness at an institution famed for courage.”

#WaPo’s move follows unfurling tumult at The #LATimes, where the head of the editorial board & 2 of its writers have resigned this week to protest the decision by the owner, the #billionaire #PatrickSoonShiong, to block a planned presidential #endorsement.

The #WashingtonPost’s editorial writers had already drafted an #endorsement of VP #KamalaHarris for president….

#WaPo’s editorial board had contacted the #Harris campaign & the #Trump campaign to request interviews ahead of its decision to endorse…. Harris declined the interview & the Trump campaign didn’t respond….

WaPo’s decision drew immediate blowback on social media, including from #MartyBaron, the recent editor of WaPo who led the paper through a period of editorial & business success.