The great journalist and press
critic A.J. Liebling observed that freedom of the press belongs to the man who owns one. What brings this to mind is the fact that Jeff Bezos, who owns The Washington
Post, and Patrick Soon-Shiong, owner of the Los Angeles Times, are refraining from making Presidential endorsements, specifically of Kamala Harris.
One could
argue that they are in their rights. But both are being savaged by critics on and off their staffs. Readers have cancelled their subscriptions. And the legendary duo of Bob Woodward and Carl
Bernstein, who helped bring Richard Nixon down in the 1970s, bringing great honor to the Post, have critiqued Bezos in the following way:
“We respect the traditional
independence of the editorial page, but this decision 11 days out from the 2024 presidential election ignores the Washington Post’s own overwhelming reportorial evidence on the threat
Donald Trump poses to democracy,” Woodward and Bernstein wrote.
advertisement
advertisement
They continue, “Under Jeff Bezos’ ownership, the Washington Post’s news operation has
used its abundant resources to rigorously investigate the danger and damage a second Trump presidency could cause to the future of American democracy. And that makes this decision even more surprising
and disappointing, especially this late in the electoral process.”
The widespread belief among critics is that Bezos and other publishers are intimidated by Donald Trump and do
not want to risk offending him.
But Woodward and Bernstein make a good point: the Post has used its resources to do some very tough reporting on Trump. Objective
journalistic observers could well feel that the real insights into the candidates’ fitness and ethics should be supplied by the journalistic staff, not by an editorial board. Either way, their
first responsibility is to the readers.
Bezos is certainly taking a beating. One of these days, he might decide that he doesn’t need this abuse and simply sell
out.