The Washington Post announced on Friday that it would not be endorsing a candidate in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, or any future elections. The announcement breaks a 36-year tradition for the paper.
If you would like more context on this matter, please consider Jesse J. Holland, the associate director and associate professor at the George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs. He is an award-winning journalist and the author of the first novel featuring comics’ most popular black superhero, The Black Panther. Holland is a former Race & Ethnicity writer for The Associated Press, having been recognized as one of the few reporters to be credentialed to cover all three branches of the American government during his career: the White House, the Supreme Court and Congress.
Holland says in the end, it’s Jeff Bezos’ newspaper and he can do what he wants with his newspaper.
"What he can’t buy, however, is the trust of his readers,” Holland says.
“This is a decision that could have been made months ago, back when the Republican and Democratic parties were holding their primaries, or even when Bezos first bought the newspaper, if presidential endorsements were something he didn’t want his newspaper to do. To wait until the election was imminent to block the editorial board’s endorsement — especially if it was going to be for Kamala Harris — smacks of elitism, favoritism and a desire not for what’s best for this country but what would be best for Jeff Bezos if Donald Trump wins.
From now on, The Washington Post readers should take every editorial position from the newspaper with skepticism and with the thought of “Is the newspaper only saying this because it benefits Bezos in some way or at least doesn’t hurt any of his financial positions? Are they saying this because it is what the editorial board thinks, or because it is what Jeff Bezos thinks is best for his bank account?”"
If you would like to speak with Prof. Holland, please contact GW Senior Media Relations Specialist Cate Douglass Restuccio at [email protected].
-GW-
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