Updates
Einstein was quoted as saying, “There will come a time when the rich own the media and it will be impossible for the public to make an informed opinion.”
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Opinion article by Jeff Bezos (owner) in The Washington Post, 10/28/24
Headline: “The hard truth: Americans don’t trust the news media”
“In the annual public surveys about trust and reputation, journalists and the media have regularly fallen near the very bottom, often just above Congress. But in this year’s Gallup poll, we have managed to fall below Congress. Our profession is now the least trusted of all. Something we are doing is clearly not working.”
“…Most people believe the media is biased. Anyone who doesn’t see this is paying scant attention to reality, and those who fight reality lose.”
“. . . I would also like to be clear that no quid pro quo of any kind is at work here. Neither campaign nor candidate was consulted or informed at any level or in any way about this decision. . . ”
“. . . You can see my wealth and business interests as a bulwark against intimidation, or you can see them as a web of conflicting interests. Only my own principles can tip the balance from one to the other. I assure you that my views here are, in fact, principled, and I believe my track record as owner of The Post since 2013 backs this up.”
“. . . While I do not and will not push my personal interest, I will also not allow this paper to stay on autopilot and fade into irrelevance — overtaken by unresearched podcasts and social media barbs — not without a fight.. .”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/28/jeff-bezos-washington-post-trust/
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Article in The Guardian by Lorenzo Tondo, 10/28/24
Headline: “Real thread of autocracy’: Washington Post editorial staffers resign in forceful letters”
Subhead: “Fallout continues over newspaper’s decision not to support Harris for president as over 200,000 cancel subscriptions”
“More Washington Post staffers have stepped down and more than 200,000 people had canceled their digital subscriptions by Monday after the newspaper’s decision not to support Kamala Harris f”or president.
“Editorial board members David Hoffman and Molly Roberts both resigned on Monday with forceful letters indicating their reasons.
“I believe we face a very real threat of autocracy in the candidacy of Donald Trump,” Hoffman, who took home the Pulitzer Prize just last week, wrote in his resignation letter. “I find it untenable and unconscionable that we have lost our voice at this perilous moment.”
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Article in The Hill by Dominick Mastrangelo, 10/28/24
Headline: “Washington Post loses more than 200,000 subscribers over endorsement outrage: Report “
“The Washington Post has lost more than 200,000 digital subscriptions since its decision not to endorse a candidate in this year’s presidential election, according to a report by NPR citing two people at the paper with knowledge of internal matters.
Such a number would amount to around 8 percent of the outlet’s 2.5 million digital and print subscribers.
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/4957738-washington-post-subscriptions-drop/
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Article in The Guardian by Lorenzo Tondo, 10/28/24
Headline: “Second Washington Post writer quits over failure to back Kamala Harris”
Subhead: “Columnist Michele Norris says paper’s decision to withhold endorsement in US election was ‘terrible mistake’ “
“Michele Norris, an opinion contributor at the Post and the first Black female host for National Public Radio (NPR), called the non-endorsement a ‘terrible mistake’.
“ ‘As of yesterday, I have decided to resign from my role as a columnist for The Washington Post – a newspaper that I love,” wrote Norris , who has been an opinion columnist at the paper since 2019.
People walk past the Washington Post building‘Fundamentally saddened’: Washington Post readers on failure to endorse Harris
“In a moment like this, everyone needs to make their own decisions. The Washington Post’s decision to withhold an endorsement that had been written & approved in an election where core democratic principles are at stake was a terrible mistake & an insult to the paper’s own longstanding standard of regularly endorsing candidates since 1976.’ ”
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/oct/28/washington-post-columnist-michele-norris-quits-kamala-harris
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On 10/26 as of 10:00 PM media outlets are going bonkers about the Washington Post’s decision not to endorse a candidate for president following on the heels of the same decision by the Los Angeles Times. Both newspapers were bought by billionaires who have seemingly put their thumbs on the scales of editorial policies in which a presidential candidate was always endorsed. Here are a few links to the many articles with their headlines:
The Nation: “The Washington Post’s Craven Capitulation to the Billionaire Class” https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/washington-post-endorsement-david-shipley/
MEDIAite: “Legendary Washington Post Watergate Reporters Blast Paper’s Decision Not to Endorse a Candidate” https://www.mediaite.com/media/legendary-washington-post-watergate-reporters-blast-papers-decision-not-to-endorse-a-candidate/
Daily Beast: “Is This The Reason Bezos-Owned WaPo Didn’t Endorse Harris?” https://www.thedailybeast.com/is-this-the-reason-jeff-bezos-owned-washington-post-didnt-endorse-kamala-harris-blue-origin-donald-trump/
Huffington Post: “Washington Post Declines To Make Presidential Endorsement For First Time In Decades” https://www.huffpost.com/entry/washington-post-endorsement-trump-harris_n_671bc08ce4b0fdf4fef43d44
The Hill: “Washington Post reels from Bezos decision to not endorse” https://thehill.com/homenews/media/4954196-bezos-decision-post-endorsement/
Headline: “Missouri AG sues Media Matters over its X research, demands donor names – Media watchdog clams ‘meritless, expensive, and harassing investigations.'”