Readers of the Washington Post are boycotting the newspaper after owner Jeff Bezos declined to make a presidential endorsement and admit they are struggling to give up on Amazon.
More than 200,000 WaPo readers (out of 2.5 million) have canceled their subscriptions so far, but some admit it’s harder to give up the convenience of Bezos’ far more lucrative online shopping giant.
Liberal writer Joan Walsh expressed pride in You should too.’
But when asked in her answers that she would cancel her Amazon subscription, Walsh immediately compromised her position, writing: “Much harder but considering…”
Some Washington Post readers, such as writer Joan Walsh, who canceled their subscriptions after the newspaper decided not to endorse Kamala Harris, are struggling to boycott Amazon.
Liberal author Joan Walsh was among the X users who admitted that while she was able to cancel her WaPo subscription, she kept her Amazon account
X user Liz Calloway shared an image of her Post subscription being canceled and added, “If I were a better person, I would cancel my Amazon Prime membership too.”
X user Liz Callaway shared an image of her Post subscription being canceled and added, “If I were a better person, I would cancel my Amazon Prime membership too.”
Another added, “I canceled my old WaPo subscription and I get the things I want from Amazon elsewhere. It’s hard, I admit.
Some of Bezos’ critics argued that they canceled the Post because it was no longer doing its job to inform, while Amazon is still doing what it’s supposed to do.
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The Washington Post said Friday that it would not endorse a candidate for president in this year’s closely contested race and would avoid doing so in the future.
The paper’s page editor, David Shipley, had already approved an endorsement from Harris and had reportedly told colleagues that the paper was being reviewed by the paper’s owner, Bezos, according to NPR.
Some of Bezos’ critics argued that they canceled the Post because it was no longer doing its job to inform, while Amazon is still doing what it’s supposed to do.
The announcement marks the first time in 36 years that the left-wing newspaper has decided not to issue a presidential endorsement.
Columnist Robert Kagan, a conservative Trump critic, resigned from his position on the editorial board after the decision emerged.
In an article on the front of its website, the Post — reporting on its own internal workings — also quoted unidentified sources in the publication as saying that a statement of support for Kamala Harris over Donald Trump had been written but not published.
Those sources told Post reporters that Bezos made the decision.
The Post’s publisher, Will Lewis, wrote in a column that the decision was actually a return to a tradition the newspaper had years ago of not endorsing candidates. He said it reflected the paper’s confidence in “our readers’ ability to make up their own minds.”
The page editor reportedly told colleagues that the paper was being reviewed by Jeff Bezos, the paper’s owner. The Post itself has reported that it was Bezos who made the decision not to endorse a presidential candidate
Columnist Robert Kagan, a conservative Trump critic, resigned from his position on the editorial board after the decision emerged
The Post began supporting presidential candidates in 1976 after it broke the Watergate scandal and publicly endorsed Democrat Jimmy Carter — “for understandable reasons at the time,” the newspaper said.
However, it declined to approve an endorsement between George HW Bush and Michael Dukakis in 1988.
All her endorsements since Carter have been Democrats.
The Post’s move comes the same week that the Los Angeles Times announced a similar decision, leading to the resignations of its editorial page editor and two other editorial board members.
The editors of the Los Angeles Times were asked to honestly analyze both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris but chose not to say anything, according to the newspaper’s owner, Dr. Pat Soon-Shiong.
In that case, Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong insisted he had not censored the editors, who had planned to support Harris.
“As an owner, I’m on the editorial staff and I shared with our editorial staff that this year we might have a column, one page, two pages, if we want, with all the pros and cons and we’ll let the readers decide,” Soon said -Shiong Thursday in an interview with Spectrum News. He said he feared that supporting a candidate would deepen divisions in the country.
Mariel Garza told the Columbia Journalism Review in an interview that she resigned because the Times remained silent on the contest during “dangerous times.”
“I’m resigning because I want to make it clear that I don’t condone our silence,” Garza said. ‘In dangerous times, honest people must stand up. This is where I stand.”