Editor resigns, subscribers cancel as Washington Post non-endorsement prompts crisis at Bezos paper

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Last edited Fri Oct 25, 2024, 07:11 PM - Edit history (3)

Source: Semafor

The Washington Post's leadership recently sought meetings with the Democratic and Republican nominees for president, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, people familiar with the requests said. Neither campaign scheduled the meeting, Post editors assured the Harris campaign a meeting wouldn't affect an endorsement. And insiders and outsiders alike assumed the Post would choose the Democrat, as virtually every American newspaper has in the last two elections.

Friday, readers and employees learned otherwise: The Post, following the Los Angeles Times (as first reported by Semafor), will no longer endorse candidates. Post editor Will Lewis wrote that "we know" some readers will take the decision as "an abdication of responsibility," and many of his employees appear to have done so. (A person familiar with the numbers said the failure to meet, indeed, had no impact on the decision.)

The first prominent journalist, editor-at-large Robert Kagan, resigned Friday in response to the decision, Semafor first reported. But there may be more: "people are shocked, furious, surprised," said an editorial board member, citing internal discussions around resignation. "If you don't have the balls to own a newspaper, don't."

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Read more: https://www.semafor.com/article/10/25/2024/editor-resign-subscribers-cancel-as-washington-post-non-endorsement-prompts-crisis-at-bezos-paper

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I just cancelled my subscription to Washington Post, so that makes about 2001
Anyone in DU cancel their subscription?

One person familiar with the figures told Semafor that the decision already seemed to be impacting subscriptions. In the 24 hours ending Friday afternoon, about 2,000 subscribers canceled their subscriptions, an unusually high number, an employee said.

Here is the WaPo link to see the 19,000+ comments on the non-endorse story. Lots of cancellations.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/25/washington-post-endorsement/