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ificandream

(11,017 posts)
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 08:09 AM Oct 2024

Jeff Bezos defends decision for Washington Post to end presidential endorsements

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



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.
59 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Jeff Bezos defends decision for Washington Post to end presidential endorsements (Original Post) ificandream Oct 2024 OP
Not even a good try Jeff. dflprincess Oct 2024 #1
The whole system worked out with the USPS and their deliveries wolfie001 Oct 2024 #3
Amazon is killing it dexdah Oct 2024 #9
Many of the reader comments agree. spooky3 Oct 2024 #31
The true irony here is that the very people he's sucked up to don't give a damn about him or his enterprise wolfie001 Oct 2024 #2
I'll paraphrase: "I am a money hoarder. I have more than I could Scrivener7 Oct 2024 #4
Alternative paraphrase: "I'M A VICTIM OF SOYCUMSTANCE, NYAHH NYAHH, WOOwoowoowooo!!!" Montauk6 Oct 2024 #40
I am so done w/the Washington Post, jrthin Oct 2024 #5
It's a decision based on principal. And interest. And net income. unblock Oct 2024 #6
The Sick F*** Convict is unfit for office. returnee Oct 2024 #7
The ones who can read, anyway. (no text) returnee Oct 2024 #8
And Ending my Prime subscriptions Farmer-Rick Oct 2024 #10
Why even use words when you could have just used one symbol, Jeff? 50 Shades Of Blue Oct 2024 #11
Cowering timidly towards Mar-a-Lago to pledge fealty to Fat Donnie RVN VET71 Oct 2024 #12
Bezobub Clouds Passing Oct 2024 #13
Billionaires (not journalists) know best! BootinUp Oct 2024 #14
Bad timing on this one, Sparky birdographer Oct 2024 #15
Very Bad Timing RobinA Oct 2024 #34
By not endorsing Kamala he is buying his political and financial influence to invest in deep underseas in2herbs Oct 2024 #16
Ugh. And I was worried about space. LisaM Oct 2024 #19
What if you were saying something Lulu KC Oct 2024 #17
I could understand his reasoning IF... bigworld Oct 2024 #18
Why would it have made sense then? BootinUp Oct 2024 #20
My thoughts exactly. Bezos is shoveling some BS. Raven123 Oct 2024 #27
"Jeff Bezos defends the indefensible." n/t CousinIT Oct 2024 #21
I'll be honest and kinda agree that newspapers and other media such as TV and radio should strive to be truly neutral. cstanleytech Oct 2024 #22
It doesn't really matter DENVERPOPS Oct 2024 #24
Yes, but... RussBLib Oct 2024 #25
I am ok too, but why wait until the endorsements are drafted? Raven123 Oct 2024 #28
I'm not arguing with you there at all as it smells. cstanleytech Oct 2024 #49
News vs opinion. Please be honest that they BootinUp Oct 2024 #32
I agree that a lot of people don't seem to realize the difference. ificandream Oct 2024 #50
Thanks. Seems that way. Nt BootinUp Oct 2024 #54
So, rules for the real press Teacher of the Year Oct 2024 #39
No, I didn't say that at all as I specifically said other media. cstanleytech Oct 2024 #48
He can ramble all he wants...there is no defense! PortTack Oct 2024 #23
Jeff, you're not going to "gain trust" by lying about why you blocked the Harris endorsement. SunSeeker Oct 2024 #26
He's full of it Keepthesoulalive Oct 2024 #29
So, Jeff, I guess you and Sergeant Schultz BOTH increase public trust... dchill Oct 2024 #30
In his defense. He's rich and if Trump gets in he wants to be one of the inner oligarchs. bullimiami Oct 2024 #33
timing angel823 Oct 2024 #35
Oh, bullshit. malthaussen Oct 2024 #36
And in doing so, he makes his organization appear even more biased and dependent. Torchlight Oct 2024 #37
what's that commotion at the gate? Marthe48 Oct 2024 #38
... and how's that working out for you, Mr. Bezos? surrealAmerican Oct 2024 #41
Get fucked, Lex Luthor Lite. LudwigPastorius Oct 2024 #42
Go away somewhere out of the way, and play with your fuckin' toys. Magoo48 Oct 2024 #43
200K people have dropped their digital sub apnu Oct 2024 #44
Bad timing Baggies Oct 2024 #45
If he has trouble with that, he should write an explanation, put the letter in a nice envelope.. chouchou Oct 2024 #46
Bullshit Jeff, Bullshit BlueKota Oct 2024 #47
Cancelled my Amazon subscription -- fuck Bozo Blue Owl Oct 2024 #51
The asshole would've increased the public trust in his paper if they had endorsed the candidate who is not guilty of... brush Oct 2024 #52
Also he could have endorsed the candidate who is truly for freedom of the press. viva la Oct 2024 #53
Absolutely. brush Oct 2024 #56
Surprised? HeavyHemi Oct 2024 #55
Hmmm NJCher Oct 2024 #58
I don't understand why any company or owner would endorse a side and eliminate half their customers. Groundhawg Oct 2024 #57
If he had announced a year ago, or even 6months ago Island Blue Oct 2024 #59

dflprincess

(28,660 posts)
1. Not even a good try Jeff.
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 08:15 AM
Oct 2024

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

You did it for government contracts and greed.

wolfie001

(4,070 posts)
3. The whole system worked out with the USPS and their deliveries
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 08:18 AM
Oct 2024

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

dexdah

(53 posts)
9. Amazon is killing it
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 08:42 AM
Oct 2024

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

(36,968 posts)
31. Many of the reader comments agree.
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 11:14 AM
Oct 2024

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

wolfie001

(4,070 posts)
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
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 08:17 AM
Oct 2024

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

(54,003 posts)
4. I'll paraphrase: "I am a money hoarder. I have more than I could
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 08:20 AM
Oct 2024

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?"

unblock

(54,566 posts)
6. It's a decision based on principal. And interest. And net income.
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 08:23 AM
Oct 2024

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

(406 posts)
7. The Sick F*** Convict is unfit for office.
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 08:29 AM
Oct 2024

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.

Farmer-Rick

(11,650 posts)
10. And Ending my Prime subscriptions
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 08:45 AM
Oct 2024

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

50 Shades Of Blue

(11,062 posts)
11. Why even use words when you could have just used one symbol, Jeff?
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 08:46 AM
Oct 2024

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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RVN VET71

(2,842 posts)
12. Cowering timidly towards Mar-a-Lago to pledge fealty to Fat Donnie
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 08:47 AM
Oct 2024

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.

RobinA

(10,247 posts)
34. Very Bad Timing
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 11:19 AM
Oct 2024

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

(3,471 posts)
16. By not endorsing Kamala he is buying his political and financial influence to invest in deep underseas
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 09:31 AM
Oct 2024

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

(28,976 posts)
19. Ugh. And I was worried about space.
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 09:51 AM
Oct 2024

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

Lulu KC

(6,818 posts)
17. What if you were saying something
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 09:32 AM
Oct 2024

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

(1,810 posts)
18. I could understand his reasoning IF...
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 09:35 AM
Oct 2024

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

(49,341 posts)
20. Why would it have made sense then?
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 10:13 AM
Oct 2024

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

cstanleytech

(27,369 posts)
22. I'll be honest and kinda agree that newspapers and other media such as TV and radio should strive to be truly neutral.
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 10:19 AM
Oct 2024

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

DENVERPOPS

(10,826 posts)
24. It doesn't really matter
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 10:44 AM
Oct 2024

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

(9,813 posts)
25. Yes, but...
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 10:53 AM
Oct 2024

....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

(6,368 posts)
28. I am ok too, but why wait until the endorsements are drafted?
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 11:03 AM
Oct 2024

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

39. So, rules for the real press
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 12:54 PM
Oct 2024

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.

SunSeeker

(54,617 posts)
26. Jeff, you're not going to "gain trust" by lying about why you blocked the Harris endorsement.
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 11:00 AM
Oct 2024

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

(1,017 posts)
29. He's full of it
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 11:05 AM
Oct 2024

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

(41,323 posts)
30. So, Jeff, I guess you and Sergeant Schultz BOTH increase public trust...
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 11:06 AM
Oct 2024

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

bullimiami

(14,019 posts)
33. In his defense. He's rich and if Trump gets in he wants to be one of the inner oligarchs.
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 11:17 AM
Oct 2024

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

(422 posts)
35. timing
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 11:27 AM
Oct 2024

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

malthaussen

(17,932 posts)
36. Oh, bullshit.
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 11:49 AM
Oct 2024

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

(4,259 posts)
37. And in doing so, he makes his organization appear even more biased and dependent.
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 11:57 AM
Oct 2024

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.

surrealAmerican

(11,559 posts)
41. ... and how's that working out for you, Mr. Bezos?
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 01:15 PM
Oct 2024

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

(11,652 posts)
42. Get fucked, Lex Luthor Lite.
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 02:22 PM
Oct 2024

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

Magoo48

(5,884 posts)
43. Go away somewhere out of the way, and play with your fuckin' toys.
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 03:03 PM
Oct 2024

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

apnu

(8,790 posts)
44. 200K people have dropped their digital sub
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 03:10 PM
Oct 2024

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

Baggies

(666 posts)
45. Bad timing
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 03:33 PM
Oct 2024

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

(1,604 posts)
46. If he has trouble with that, he should write an explanation, put the letter in a nice envelope..
Tue Oct 29, 2024, 04:05 PM
Oct 2024

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

brush

(58,807 posts)
52. The asshole would've increased the public trust in his paper if they had endorsed the candidate who is not guilty of...
Wed Oct 30, 2024, 12:57 PM
Oct 2024

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

(3,933 posts)
53. Also he could have endorsed the candidate who is truly for freedom of the press.
Wed Oct 30, 2024, 12:58 PM
Oct 2024

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

NJCher

(38,845 posts)
58. Hmmm
Wed Oct 30, 2024, 01:29 PM
Oct 2024

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

(1,088 posts)
57. I don't understand why any company or owner would endorse a side and eliminate half their customers.
Wed Oct 30, 2024, 01:26 PM
Oct 2024

Island Blue

(6,287 posts)
59. If he had announced a year ago, or even 6months ago
Wed Oct 30, 2024, 01:39 PM
Oct 2024

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 .

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