NEW YORK — Billionaire Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos on Monday defended the newspaper’s decision not to endorse a presidential candidate as “fair” and “principled” and opposed any idea which he allegedly ordered to protect his commercial interests.
This decision, announced Friday, would have led tens of thousands of people to cancel their subscriptions and to protest by journalists with a long history within the newspaper. The Post editorial team was prepared to support Democrat Kamala Harris before editor Will Lewis instead wrote that it would be better for readers to make up their own minds.
Bezos, in “a note from our owner” released Monday evening, said the editorial endorsements create a perception of bias at a time when many Americans do not believe the media and do nothing to tip the scales of a election.
“Ending it is a decision in principle, and it’s the right one,” Bezos said.
Bezos wrote that he wished the decision to end presidential support had been made earlier, “at a time further removed from the election and the emotions surrounding it.” This was inadequate planning, not an intentional strategy.
The decision has been making waves for days
Bezos’ decision provoked an unprecedented outburst of anger, both within and outside journalism.
NPR reported Monday that more than 200,000 people had canceled their subscriptions to the paper, citing “two people at the paper with knowledge of internal matters.” A Post spokeswoman, Olivia Petersen, would not comment on the NPR report.
A loss of subscriptions of this magnitude would be a major blow for a renowned media outlet which is already facing financial difficulties. The Post had more than 2.5 million subscribers last year, the majority digital, placing it third behind the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal in terms of circulation.
Following this decision, two of the newspaper’s columnists resigned and three of the nine members of the editorial board resigned from their positions. Retired former Post editor Martin Baron, who was editor-in-chief when Bezos bought the paper, denounced the decision on social media as “cowardice, with democracy as the victim.”
The Post’s decision came just days after the Los Angeles Times also said it would not support a presidential candidate, which the paper said cost it thousands of subscribers.
Bezos insists fear of trade retaliation was not a factor
Some critics have suggested that Bezos, also the owner of Amazon, ordered the non-approval to protect his business interests, acting out of fear of retaliation if Donald Trump was elected. The Post supported Trump’s Democratic rivals in 2016 and 2020, and Trump has often denounced the paper’s critical coverage.
In his column, Bezos said people may view his wealth and business interests as one of two things: a bulwark against bullying or a web of conflicting interests. He insisted his opinions were principled and his track record as Post owner since 2013 backed that up.
“I challenge you to find a single example in these 11 years where I have successfully convinced anyone at the Post in favor of my own interests,” he wrote. “That didn’t happen.”
He acknowledged that the chief executive of one of his companies, space exploration firm Blue Origin, met with Trump last week, the same day the non-approval was announced.
“I sighed when I found out, because I knew it would provide ammunition to those who would like to present this as anything other than a principled decision,” Bezos wrote. “But the thing is, I didn’t know about this meeting in advance.”
He said that while he did not and would not advocate for his own personal interests, he would not allow the Post to “stay on autopilot and slide into irrelevance.”
“Many of the best journalists you can find work at The Washington Post, and they work hard every day to uncover the truth,” he said. “They deserve to be believed.”
