Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, the owner of the Washington Post, has ordered the newspaper not to endorse any candidates for the election. America’s News Desk reports:
Washington Post owner, Jeff Bezos, addressed the the uproar over the newspaper’s decision not to endorse a candidate in the presidential election.
In an op-ed, Bezos clarified that the move, which he personally initiated, aims to preserve trust in media amid declining credibility, rather than serving his business interests.
“What presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias. A perception of non-independence. Ending them is a principled decision, and it’s the right one,” the Amazon founder began.
“I would also like to be clear that no quid pro quo of any kind is at work here. Neither campaign nor candidate was consulted or informed at any level or in any way about this decision. It was made entirely internally.”
Acknowledging reports that Dave Limp, CEO of Blue Origin, one of his companies, met former President Trump on the same day the Post announced its non-endorsement stance, Bezos remarked, “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 admitted to not being an ideal Post owner, given potential conflicts between its coverage and his business interests.
“Every day, somewhere, some Amazon executive or Blue Origin executive or someone from the other philanthropies and companies I own or invest in is meeting with government officials,” he noted.
Bezos reportedly stopped an editorial endorsing Vice President Harris after it was already drafted, asserting,
“Lack of credibility isn’t unique to The Post. Our brethren newspapers have the same issue. And it’s a problem not only for media, but also for the nation.”
Legacy media is in free fall, especially when it faces independent content creators in all forms on X, YouTube, Substack and others. This could also indicate that Bezos fears a backlash from Republicans if Trump gets elected.
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