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Jeff Bezos sought to tamp down controversy over his ownership of the Washington Post on Monday, saying in a newspaper editorial that he had made a “principled decision” by refusing to endorse a candidate for US president.
He also denied the decision not to run an opinion piece endorsing Kamala Harris, which had been drafted by the Post’s editorial writers, was part of a “quid pro quo” between Blue Origin, his rocket company, and former president Donald Trump.
The Post last week reported that its editorial board had written an endorsement of Harris that was not published following a decision by Bezos, who has owned the paper for 11 years. It was the first time the Post had not made an endorsement since 1988.
The intervention by one of the world’s richest men at one of America’s most-storied newspapers has sparked fierce criticism by the Post’s current and former staffers — including Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who broke the legendary Watergate investigation 40 years ago.
Bezos on Monday wrote he opposed endorsements because they “create a perception of bias”, adding that he regretted the timing of the decision. “I wish we had made the change earlier than we did, in a moment further from the election and the emotions around it,” he wrote. “That was inadequate planning, and not some intentional strategy.”
However, he acknowledged Blue Origin’s boss Dave Limp met Trump on Friday, the same day that Post publisher Sir William Lewis announced the decision not to endorse. Bezos said there “is no connection” between the meeting and his decision, and “any suggestion otherwise is false”.
Bezos’s intervention has infuriated Post staff, as well as some of its audience. NPR reported more than 200,000 people, or about 8 per cent of subscribers, had cancelled their digital subscriptions by midday on Monday. A Washington Post spokesperson declined to comment on the figure.
Robert Kagan, an editor-at-large, resigned from the paper in protest.
The Trump campaign has seized on the controversy over the Post’s decision and other newspapers that have declined to back a candidate this year.
“The Washington Post decided to nuke their presidential endorsements for good rather than endorse Harris-Walz,” the Trump campaign said.
Last week, 17 of the Post’s columnists signed an editorial calling the decision “a terrible mistake” at a time “when one candidate is advocating positions that directly threaten freedom of the press and the values of the constitution”.
With the news industry in financial flux, an increasing number of US newspapers have been acquired by billionaires over the past 15 years, including the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and the Las Vegas Review Journal.
Bezos acquired the Post in 2013 for $250mn. The paper initially enjoyed a turnaround, luring millions of subscribers by reporting deeply on Trump and his presidency. But it has struggled to hold that momentum.
The billionaire takeovers have stirred controversy in the journalism industry, with critics arguing they leave news organisations subject to the whims of wealthy owners.
In his 2023 memoir, former Washington Post executive editor Marty Baron noted Bezos “made decisions at a speed that was unprecedented in my experience. He personally owned 100 per cent of the company. He didn’t need to consult anyone.”
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