Washington Publish proprietor Jeff Bezos defended the paper’s option to not endorse a 2024 presidential candidate just a few weeks earlier than the election, arguing it wouldn’t have made a distinction anyway.
Liberal staffers publicly condemned the choice to not endorse Vice President Kamala Harris after a draft had reportedly already been written. There have been resignations from Publish staffers and editorial board members, a mass exodus of subscribers and Bezos even needed to defend the “principled decision” in a uncommon op-ed.
Bezos was requested concerning the determination on Wednesday as he was interviewed by New York Instances columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin at DealBook Summit 2024.
After recalling the historical past of The Publish, citing how the group traditionally didn’t endorse candidates up till after Watergate, he defined, “We just decided that, you know, it wasn’t going to help … it wasn’t going to influence the election either way.”
Washington Publish proprietor Jeff Bezos defended his selection for the outlet to not endorse a candidate shortly earlier than the 2024 election. (The New York Instances DealBook Summit 2024 Reside/posted by Andrew Sorkin)
“There’s no evidence that newspaper endorsements influence elections,” Bezos mentioned. “No independent voter in Pennsylvania at that time was gonna say, ‘Oh! Is that what the Washington Post thinks? Well, then I’ll do that.’ So that wasn’t going to happen.”
“We just decided that the pluses of [an endorsement] were very small and it added to the perception of bias,” he continued. “At the same time, you know, we’re struggling with the issue that all traditional media is struggling with, which is a very difficult and significant loss of trust.”
He mentioned the media not solely must be correct, however the folks should consider it is correct.
Sorkin learn significantly scathing rebukes of the non-endorsement from former Publish govt editor Marty Baron and journalist David Remnick, however Bezos stood his floor.
Andrew Ross Sorkin and Jeff Bezos communicate onstage throughout The New York Instances Dealbook Summit 2024 at Jazz at Lincoln Middle on December 04, 2024 in New York Metropolis. ((Picture by Eugene Gologursky/Getty Photos for The New York Instances))
“We made this decision, it was the right decision. I’m proud of the decision we made, and it was far from cowardly because we knew there would be blowback, and we did the right thing anyway,” he mentioned.
Sorkin proceeded to convey up the backlash, equivalent to 250,000 folks canceling their subscriptions, asking if Bezos’ try to revive belief within the media had backfired and as an alternative made them extra cautious of it.
“No, I don’t follow that logic,” Bezos mentioned, later including that he was not stunned by the backlash, “You can’t do the wrong thing because you’re worried about bad PR or whatever it is you want to call it. This was the right decision. We made the right decision. I’m very proud of that decision.”
When Bezos expressed his optimism about Trump’s subsequent presidency, Sorkin pressed him concerning the president-elect’s contentious relationship with the media, having referred to them because the “enemy.”
“I’m going to try to talk him out of that idea. I don’t think the press is the enemy. And I don’t think, you know, he’s also… You’ve probably grown in the last two years. He has, too. Like, it’s, you know, this is not the case. The press is not the enemy,” Bezos mentioned.
He later added, “Let’s go persuade him of this. You and I should go. Let’s go talk to him.”
Fox Information’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.
