Jeff Bezos defends decision for Washington Post to end presidential endorsements

[ificandream]

Last edited Wed Oct 30, 2024, 12:47 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: UPI/MSN

Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Jeff Bezos, owner of The Washington Post, has defended his controversial decision for his storied publication to end its decades-long tradition of endorsing a presidential candidate.

Bezos penned an Op-Ed published by his newspaper Monday night, stating the internal decision to not endorse either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump for president was done in an effort to increase public trust.

He said newspapers have the daunting task of not only producing accurate news but having the public believe what they produce is the truth. Endorsing a political candidate for president creates the image of bias, a perception of "non-independence," he said.

"Ending them is a principled decision, and it's the right one," he said.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/jeff-bezos-defends-decision-for-washington-post-to-end-presidential-endorsements/ar-AA1t7u3f?ocid=BingNewsSerp

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Glad he wrote this, but I'm not going to return to subscribing.

Direct link to Bezos' op-ed: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/28/jeff-bezos-washington-post-trust/

To add: I really wish if they were going to do this that both the L.A Times and WashPost had done this much much earlier. But to do it now is just awful timing.

[dflprincess]

1. Not even a good try Jeff.

Last edited Tue Oct 29, 2024, 11:13 AM - Edit history (1)

You did it for government contracts and greed.

[wolfie001]

3. The whole system worked out with the USPS and their deliveries

I mean, WTF!!!! That shit should've ended years ago.

[dexdah]

9. Amazon is killing it

The USPS that is, and making Bezos $Billions. The American public is subsidizing “free shipping” and Amazon, while running the USPS into the ground. Ask your mail carrier!

[spooky3]

31. Many of the reader comments agree.

There are just too many facts here that are inconsistent with Bezos’ account.

[wolfie001]

2. The true irony here is that the very people he's sucked up to don't give a damn about him or his enterprise

They only care about his fortune and how they can get some of it with regular donations. What a feckless pig. I'll bet he has a backdown payment worked out with leonard leo. "Democracy Dies in Darkness".........................

[Scrivener7]

4. I'll paraphrase: "I am a money hoarder. I have more than I could

ever possibly use in a hundred lifetimes. But I am so astoundingly, pathologically insecure I still need more. And if I cross trump, he might make it hard for me to make more. And then what am I supposed to do?"

[Montauk6]

40. Alternative paraphrase: "I'M A VICTIM OF SOYCUMSTANCE, NYAHH NYAHH, WOOwoowoowooo!!!"

[jrthin]

5. I am so done w/the Washington Post,

I won't and don't care enough to even click on a link.

[unblock]

6. It's a decision based on principal. And interest. And net income.

If it's principled to not endorse, he's accusing every other newspaper endorsement ever of bias, or at least the appearance of bias

What a monumental ass. If you want to be a coward and try not to curry favor with the fascist, just do it. Don't then stand up and pretend that the decision that aligns with your financial interests is a brave one.

And certainly don't say anyone who does endorse is showing a bias. Especially when your decision not to endorse stinks of bias.

[returnee]

7. The Sick F*** Convict is unfit for office.

That is the glaringly obvious TRUTH. Print that, asshole. By not printing it you just lost the trust of the majority of Americans. Sell your papers to the maggots now.

[returnee]

8. The ones who can read, anyway. (no text)

[Farmer-Rick]

10. And Ending my Prime subscriptions

And Amazon purchases is a principled decision, and it's the right one.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

11. Why even use words when you could have just used one symbol, Jeff?

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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[RVN VET71]

12. Cowering timidly towards Mar-a-Lago to pledge fealty to Fat Donnie

Bezos is afraid that if (when?) Fat Donnie wins, the Amazon empire might suffer so much that Bezos will be unable to build a rocket ship to Mars.

[Clouds Passing]

13. Bezobub

[BootinUp]

14. Billionaires (not journalists) know best!

[birdographer]

15. Bad timing on this one, Sparky

Nobody is buying this crap.

[RobinA]

34. Very Bad Timing

I don't disagree with him that newspapers do not have to endorse a candidate, and I wouldn't care if none did. However, the prudent think to do if they were thinking of not endorsing was to make the announcement two years ago. Or next December. The timing makes it pretty darn hard to think this move is anything but a cowardly cop out. I can't believe no lawyer suggested to him that doing it a week before this election gives off the stench of impropriety

[in2herbs]

16. By not endorsing Kamala he is buying his political and financial influence to invest in deep underseas

mining. He already has the yacht, submersibles and the company. There are oil companies that have already been awarded portions of our seas by the UN to pursue their profits, which has a devastating, irreversible effect on the environment. Read the book by Susan Casey "The Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean." It's an eye opener to what these mega mega rich are doing to our world.

[LisaM]

19. Ugh. And I was worried about space.

It's whack-a-mole with these egoists. Climate Pledge Arena - what a joke.

[Lulu KC]

17. What if you were saying something

about what you didn't want your employees to say and no one was listening? You're just a blah blah blah kind of guy, Jeff.

[bigworld]

18. I could understand his reasoning IF...

he implemented this as soon as he purchased it. But two weeks before the election? Come on.

BTW the Post is still endorsing candidates for local, state, and District offices.

[BootinUp]

20. Why would it have made sense then?

The company has a certain mission. Just because a fookin billionaire buys it the mission shouldn’t change.

[Raven123]

27. My thoughts exactly. Bezos is shoveling some BS.

[CousinIT]

21. "Jeff Bezos defends the indefensible." n/t

[cstanleytech]

22. I'll be honest and kinda agree that newspapers and other media such as TV and radio should strive to be truly neutral.

They shouldn't be like Fox News and operate as the PR arm for anyone trying to win an election at any level.

[DENVERPOPS]

24. It doesn't really matter

if Trump wins........All these different Media in the U.S. will be replaced by one "State Sponsored" media like the old Pravda in Russia.
You can be sure Putin will help Trump out setting it up, along with ton's of other things......

[RussBLib]

25. Yes, but...

....when one candidate comes along as odious as Trump, who tries to overthrow the government, who promises retribution against his perceived enemies, who communicates in secret with dictators who would like nothing less than the destruction of America, and who has so many more personal defects, I think that kind of extremism should be vilified. I imagine you agree.

[Raven123]

28. I am ok too, but why wait until the endorsements are drafted?

These folks could have made this decision a long time ago. There is something else going on.

[cstanleytech]

49. I'm not arguing with you there at all as it smells.

[BootinUp]

32. News vs opinion. Please be honest that they

Are not the same.

[ificandream]

50. I agree that a lot of people don't seem to realize the difference.

[BootinUp]

54. Thanks. Seems that way. Nt

[Teacher of the Year]

39. So, rules for the real press

but none for the propaganda channels/fake press?

I get your point, but 40% of the people get their news from propaganda so those 40% have no rules. Hard to play fair when 40% of the players are making it up as you go.

[cstanleytech]

48. No, I didn't say that at all as I specifically said other media.

L

[PortTack]

23. He can ramble all he wants...there is no defense!

[SunSeeker]

26. Jeff, you're not going to "gain trust" by lying about why you blocked the Harris endorsement.

Especially when you blocked it TWO WEEKS BEFORE THE ELECTION...an election where one of the candidates would end democracy and a free press.

Bullshit, Bezos. It's just more sanewashing of Trump, as if he was a legitimate, normal candidate.

[Keepthesoulalive]

29. He's full of it

He knew he was kissing up to sick fuck but he didn’t expect the backlash . We no longer trust you to protect our democracy, we know you would sell us out to the Russians or to whoever put more money in your greedy pockets.

[dchill]

30. So, Jeff, I guess you and Sergeant Schultz BOTH increase public trust...

...with those immortal words, "I see NOTHING!"

[bullimiami]

33. In his defense. He's rich and if Trump gets in he wants to be one of the inner oligarchs.

He’s seen Putin and know how it works.
You’re in til you’re not then you try to fly out a window or your brakes fail or your plane crashes.

He’s scared of offending trump but not scared of offending democrats.

[angel823]

35. timing

Unfortunately, the timing is suspect. If there was ever a time in US history to make an endorsement, this is it.

[malthaussen]

36. Oh, bullshit.

I am so tired of these fools talking to us like we're the fools. That's not even a creative excuse.

And the fact that it does the exact reverse of intention, if the intention stated were true, demonstrates just what fools these billionaires be.

-- Mal

[Torchlight]

37. And in doing so, he makes his organization appear even more biased and dependent.

Had it not been said as damage control and instead, clearly stated in the weeks leading up to rescinding an organizational tradition it would at least sound plausible if not more honest. As it stands now, he's just making self-righteous excuses to cover a hole where a spine should be.

[Marthe48]

38. what's that commotion at the gate?

the king asked in a bored tone.

[surrealAmerican]

41. ... and how's that working out for you, Mr. Bezos?

It sure looks like your paper has decreased, not increased, public trust.


You're hiding that you actually support Trump, and your editors disagreed with you.

[LudwigPastorius]

42. Get fucked, Lex Luthor Lite.

The ONLY good thing about a Trump win would be watching him dismantle your companies and destroy you.

[Magoo48]

43. Go away somewhere out of the way, and play with your fuckin' toys.

Leave Earth doings to people who have to live here on a daily basis.

[apnu]

44. 200K people have dropped their digital sub

This will mar the WaPo’s rep for years. Bezos f*cked up.

[Baggies]

45. Bad timing

If he had done this after the 2020 election, or even 2022, it wouldn’t have been a big deal. It was waiting until late in the game that ticked off some.

But 200,000 unsubscribing means nothing to him. $100M to him is just an accounting error.

[chouchou]

46. If he has trouble with that, he should write an explanation, put the letter in a nice envelope..

...roll it up and ram it up his sorry ass.

[BlueKota]

47. Bullshit Jeff, Bullshit

Anyone who doesn't condemn a facist is a facist.

[Blue Owl]

51. Cancelled my Amazon subscription -- fuck Bozo

[brush]

52. The asshole would've increased the public trust in his paper if they had endorsed the candidate who is not guilty of...

trying to overthrow the government in 2021 in order to stay in power. The same candidate, btw, also has been convicted of 34 felonies, is awaiting sentencing. He also stole classified documents and who know who he shared that info with. He's also been adjudged to have committed rape...and there's much more. I could go on.

Fuck Bezos. What I coward. As rich as he is and he's afraid of getting on the wrong side of trump, the criminal he could've helped defeat by endorsing the candidate who is not guilty of all the about crimes.

[viva la]

53. Also he could have endorsed the candidate who is truly for freedom of the press.

Instead he gives absolution to the one who calls the press "the enemy of the people".

[brush]

56. Absolutely.

[HeavyHemi]

55. Surprised?

Is anyone surprised that a man who rode a giant phallus into space is also a dick?

[NJCher]

58. Hmmm

we seem to be thinking along the same lines.

I was just about to ask what you should expect from a guy who strongly resembles a dick.

[Groundhawg]

57. I don't understand why any company or owner would endorse a side and eliminate half their customers.

[Island Blue]

59. If he had announced a year ago, or even 6months ago

that the WAPO will no longer endorse presidential candidates, I would have said, fine. But that’s not what happened.

If I had a subscription I would cancel it. I will be canceling my Prime membership though, even though I that nothing that I do will hurt Bezos in the least .