Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Steven Mufson, 2/25/25
Headline: “The Real Story of the Washington Post’s Editorial Independence”
Subhead: “When the Kamala Harris endorsement was spiked, the publisher cited tradition. A closer reading of history tells a different story.”
“Not far from the last desk I occupied after thirty-five years at the Washington Post was the wall that lists all of the paper’s Pulitzer Prizes, trophies of its journalistic success. Tour guides would walk visitors up there and note with reverence the stars—the Woodwards and Bernsteins—as well as dozens of other staffers recognized for international affairs, investigative digging, criticism, the attack on the US Capitol, and more. . .”
“ ‘We all of us know, finally and fundamentally, that freedom of speech, freedom of education, freedom of the press, are the essential guarantees of that liberty without which a nation is only a hollow shell,” Morley said in accepting his Pulitzer, “regardless of the size of its army, the extent of its territory, or the millions of poor sheeplike helots which it may harbor.’
“Ninety years later, Morley and Meyer would be dismayed to see what has happened to the newspaper they did so much to reshape. Competitors—the New York Times, The Atlantic, CNN, and the Wall Street Journal—are poaching many of the Post’s most talented reporters, and large portions of its readership have dropped their subscriptions. . .”
But what’s needed isn’t a new platitude or slogan (Bezos gave the Post “Democracy Dies in Darkness”) or unrealistic financial goals. What’s needed is a simple declaration like the one Meyer and Morley placed atop the editorial page: ‘The Washington Post: An Independent Newspaper. . .’ ”