The Washington Submit Constructing at One Franklin Sq. Constructing on June 5, 2024 in Washington, DC.
Andrew Harnik | Getty Photographs
The Washington Submit mentioned Friday that it’ll not endorse a candidate within the presidential election this yr, breaking a long time of custom, and sparking fast criticism of the choice.
The newspaper additionally Friday printed an article by two workers reporters saying that editorial web page staffers had drafted an endorsement of Kamala Harris over Donald Trump within the election.
“The choice to not publish was made by The Submit’s proprietor — Amazon founder Jeff Bezos,” The Submit reported, citing two sources briefed on the occasions.
Trump, whereas president, had been important of Bezos and The Submit
In a 2019 lawsuit, Amazon claimed it had misplaced a $10 billion cloud computing contract with the Pentagon to Microsoft as a result of Trump had used “improper stress … “to hurt his perceived political enemy” Bezos.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos arrives for his assembly with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the UK diplomatic residence on September 20, 2021 in New York Metropolis.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Photographs Information | Getty Photographs
Submit chief government Will Lewis, in a web based rationalization of the choice, wrote, “The Washington Submit won’t be making an endorsement of a presidential candidate on this election. Nor in any future presidential election.”
“We’re returning to our roots of not endorsing presidential candidates,” Lewis wrote.
“We acknowledge that this will likely be learn in a spread of how, together with as a tacit endorsement of 1 candidate, or as a condemnation of one other, or as an abdication of duty,” he wrote. “That’s inevitable. We do not see it that method. We see it as per the values The Submit has all the time stood for and what we hope for in a frontrunner: character and braveness in service to the American ethic, veneration for the rule of regulation, and respect for human freedom in all its facets.”
The announcement got here days after the pinnacle of The Los Angeles Instances‘s editorial board resigned in protest after that paper’s proprietor Patrick Quickly-Shiong determined in opposition to operating a presidential endorsement.
Quickly-Shiong, like Bezos, is a billionaire.
Marty Baron, the previous editor of The Submit, in a tweet known as The Submit’s non-endorsement “cowardice, with democracy as its casualty.”
“@realdonaldtrump will see this as an invite to additional intimidate proprietor @jeffbezos (and others),” Baron wrote. “Disturbing spinelessness at an establishment famed for braveness.”
The Washington Submit Guild, the union that represents the newspaper’s workers, in an announcement posted on the social media web site X mentioned it was “deeply involved that The Washington Submit — an American information establishment within the nation’s capital — would decide to now not endorse presidential candidates, particularly a mere 11 days forward of an immensely consequential election.”
“The message from our chief government, Will Lewis — not from the Editorial Board itself — makes us involved that administration interfered with the work of our members in Editorial,” the Guild mentioned within the assertion, which famous the paper’s reporting about Bezos’s function within the determination.
“We’re already seeing cancellations from as soon as loyal readers,” the Guild mentioned. “This determination undercuts the work of our members at a time after we must be constructing our readers’ belief, not dropping it.”
Submit columnist Karen Attiah, in a publish on the social media web site Threads, wrote, “Right this moment has been an absolute stab within the again.”
“What an insult to these of us who’ve actually put our careers and lives on the road to name out threats to human rights and democracy,” Attiah wrote.
Marty Baron, the previous editor of The Washington Submit, known as the paper’s determination “cowardice, with democracy at its casualty.”
″@realdonaldtrump will see this as an invite to additional intimidate proprietor @jeffbezos (and others),” Baron wrote. “Disturbing spinelessness at an establishment famed for braveness.”
Rep. Ted Lieu, a Democrat from California, in his personal tweet on the information wrote, “Step one in the direction of fascism is when the free press cowers in worry.”
That is creating information. Examine again for updates.
