Jeff Bezos, founder and executive chairman of Amazon, addresses the Action on Forests and Land Use session at the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Britain, 2 November 2021. (Photo: EPA-EFE/ROBERT PERRY) “Most people believe the media is biased,” Bezos said in an essay published on the Post’s website. “Anyone who doesn’t see this is paying scant attention to reality.”
Bezos also said the Post’s action was unrelated to former president Donald Trump’s meeting with executives from Blue Origin, another of his businesses, on the day of the announcement.
“I sighed when I found out, because I knew it would provide ammunition to those who would like to frame this as anything other than a principled decision,” Bezos wrote.
Read More: Washington Post to No Longer Endorse Presidential Candidates
The Post’s publisher, William Lewis, announced on 25 October that the newspaper would no longer choose sides in presidential races, something it has done regularly since 1978. Editorial staff had been prepared to endorse Trump’s Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris.
The decision set off a firestorm of criticism, both inside and outside of the newspaper. Multiple editors and writers resigned. As many as 200,000 subscribers, or 8% of the total, cancelled, National Public Radio reported. A spokesperson for the Post declined to comment.
Among those criticising the decision were former Post executive editor Marty Baron, as well as Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the Post reporters whose reporting on the Watergate scandal led President Richard Nixon to resign.
In his essay, Bezos said presidential endorsements do “nothing to tip the scales of an election”. Instead they “create a perception of bias”.
That has allowed the space to be filled by social media posts and other unverified news sources. He urged readers to realise that changes like the endorsement decision are necessary.
“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,” Bezos wrote.