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As someone who regularly writes for newspapers, it's been a while since I've said something like this. . . Bravo, The Washington Post.
The Post announced this week that not only will it not endorse a candidate this year, but it will not do so in the future. More than 20 years ago, I wrote a column calling on newspapers to end all pro-election practices. (Yes, before all that started to affect your feelings about Donald Trump). I have continued to urge news organizations to abandon this harmful practice.
When I first announced my opposition to political advocacy, the media wasn't actively engaged in advocacy journalism, which is currently strangling the industry.
Washington Post union slams Bezos as staff revolt over decision not to support presidential candidate
Nicole Hannah-Jones, a former New York Times reporter and now a journalism professor at Howard University, declared that “all journalism is activism.”
After a series of interviews with more than 75 media leaders, former Washington Post editor-in-chief Leonard Downey Jr. and former CBS News president Andrew Hayward reaffirmed the change. “Objectivity has to go,” said Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, editor-in-chief of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Billionaire Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post in 2013.
As a result, trust in the media has fallen to an all-time low. Revenue and readership are declining as retailers struggle to survive. However, reporters still refuse to reconsider their abandonment of neutrality and objectivity.
Recently, Post owner Jeff Bezos brought in William Lewis, publisher and CEO of The Washington Post, and he immediately sat in the middle of the newsroom. Released a truth bomb. He told the staff: “Let's not cut corners…We're losing a lot of money. Our audience has halved in the last few years. People aren't reading your work. Right? We can't cut corners anymore. ”
In response, there were calls for Lewis and the other editors to be canned. These reporters would rather abandon their very job than prejudice.
Currently, Lewis is once again under fire for announcing that he would “return to the basics of not supporting presidential candidates.''
The Washington Post Guild was quick to lash out for not openly supporting Kamala Harris, but many will point out that the Post has done little to report carefully on this point.
LA Times editor-in-chief resigns over paper not endorsing Harris as presidential candidate: “We cannot tolerate being silent''
The Guild expressed alarm at the idea of leaving readers to come to their own conclusions, “just 11 days before a very consequential election.” The staff said the Post needed to “help guide readers” and that “according to our reporters and guild members, letters of support for Ms. Harris have already been prepared, and the decision not to publish them is at the Post's discretion.” “It was done by the owner, Jeff Bezos.” ”
Gone is the idea that the Post would collect free-range readers and draw their own conclusions.
The Post and other newspapers write about each other and the Democratic Party's core audience. The rest of the United States is transitioning to new sources of information such as social media.
Former editor-in-chief Martin “Marty” Baron and others completely evaporated. The baron declared, “This is a despicable act that sacrificed democracy.''
Some anonymously criticized management, and others accurately argued that they would not make such an endorsement: “Very disingenuously drawing a false equivalency. It's not Romney. It's Kamala Harris versus someone. Who tried to disenfranchise her last time?”
This is ironic, since at the time Romney, like previous Republican candidates, was portrayed as a fascist.
One of the most interesting responses came from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who said, “This is what an oligarchy is all about. Jeff, the second richest man in the world and owner of the Washington Post. Mr. Bezos ignores the editorial board and refuses to endorse Mr. Kamala.”
The New York Post Editorial Board has endorsed Donald Trump as a presidential candidate for October 25, 2024. (New York Post)
Oligarchy is defined as “rule by a minority.” That's what people see in effective national media and why “Let's Go Brandon!” It has become a kind of “Yankee graffiti” for the political and media establishment.
Sanders' objection is that the owners decided not to exercise minority power and leave the choice to voters. According to Sanders, that is the definition of an oligarchy: a refusal to act like an oligarchy.
As discussed many years ago, newspapers' decisions to engage in political advocacy have had a corrosive effect over the years. It destroys the gap between newspapers and the people who should be the targets of their research and reporting.
My previous column called for not just support for the president, but an end to it, which is a good start. We must commit to complete neutrality in all elections, from judges to senators to president.
The Washington Post isn't alone. The Los Angeles Times refused to support it, which led to a staff revolt.
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The decision not to endorse this election could be a key moment for mainstream media as it marks a turning point in the era of advocacy journalism. Although I'm skeptical, I sincerely hope Bezos decides to reconsider the Post's line. We need the Post and other mainstream media. The media plays an important role in democracies as a neutral source of information about government abuses and corruption.
But that role also requires public trust. Otherwise, as Mr. Lewis told Post staffers, “nobody's going to read your story.”
This is clear from the closeness of this election. Even after years of relentless anti-Trump reporting and billions of dollars in war chests to sell Harris to the people, this country is still divided down the middle.
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The Post and other newspapers write about each other and the Democratic Party's core audience. The rest of the United States is transitioning to new sources of information such as social media.
For those of us who love the old Post and want the Fourth Estate to be strong, this is a meaningful start.
Bravo, The Washington Post.
Click here to read more about Jonathan Turley
