Washington Post readers who boycotted the newspaper after owner Jeff Bezos refused to win a presidential endorsement admit they are struggling to quit Amazon.
More than 200,000 of WaPo’s 2.5 million readers have so far canceled their subscriptions, but some admit it’s harder to give up the convenience of Bezos’ much more lucrative online shopping giant.
Liberal author Joan Walsh took to X to proudly declare her fury at the lack of support, writing: ‘Just canceled my subscription to @washingtonpost. You should do it too.
But when asked in his responses whether he would cancel his Amazon subscription, Walsh immediately compromised his stance, writing: “Much harder, but considering…”
Some Washington Post readers, like author Joan Walsh, who canceled their subscriptions after the paper decided not to endorse Kamala Harris, are having trouble boycotting Amazon as well.
Liberal author Joan Walsh was one of 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 canceling her Post subscription, adding: “If I were a better person, I’d cancel my Amazon Prime membership too.”
X user Liz Callaway shared an image of canceling her Post subscription, adding: “If I were a better person, I’d cancel my Amazon Prime membership too.”
Another added: ‘I canceled my old WaPo subscription and am getting the things I want from Amazon elsewhere. It’s difficult, I admit.
Some critics of Bezos argued that the Post was canceled because it stopped doing its job of reporting, while Amazon continues to do what it is supposed to do.
One X user wrote: “I didn’t cancel Amazon Prime because it is still a service that delivers on its promises.”
The Washington Post said Friday that it would not endorse any presidential candidate in this year’s tight race and would avoid doing so in the future.
The paper’s page editor, David Shipley, had already approved Harris’ endorsement and had reportedly told colleagues that it was being reviewed by the paper’s owner, Bezos, according to NPR.
Some critics of Bezos argued that the Post was canceled because it stopped doing its job of reporting, while Amazon continues doing what it is supposed to do.
The announcement marks the first time in 36 years that the left-wing newspaper has decided not to give a presidential endorsement.
Columnist Robert Kagan, a conservative Trump critic, resigned from his editorial board position after the decision became known.
In an article published on the front page of its website, the Post, which reports on its own internal workings, also cited unnamed sources within the publication who said an endorsement for Kamala Harris over Donald Trump had been written, but was not had published.
Those sources told Post reporters that Bezos made the decision.
Post editor Will Lewis wrote in a column that the decision was actually a return to a long-standing tradition of not endorsing candidates. He said it reflected the newspaper’s faith in the ability of “our readers to make their own decisions.”
The page’s editor had reportedly told colleagues that it was being reviewed by the newspaper’s owner, Jeff Bezos. 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 editorial board position after the decision became known.
The position began endorsing presidential candidates in 1976 after the Watergate scandal broke and publicly endorsed Democrat Jimmy Carter, “for reasons understandable at the time,” the newspaper said.
However, he refused to make an endorsement in 1988 between George HW Bush and Michael Dukakis.
All of his endorsements since Carter have been Democrats.
The Post’s move came the same week that the Los Angeles Times announced a similar decision, which led to the resignations of its editorial page editor and two other editorial board members.
Los Angeles Times editors were asked to give a fair look at 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 censured the editorial board, which had planned to back Harris.
‘As the owner, I’m on the editorial board and I shared with our editors that maybe this year we’ll have a column, a page, two pages, if we want, of all the pros and all the cons and let the readers decide. ,’ Soon-Shiong said in an interview Thursday with Spectrum News. He said he feared that endorsing a candidate would increase the country’s division.
Mariel Garza told Columbia Journalism Review in an interview that she resigned because the Times was silent about the contest in “dangerous times.”
“I am resigning because I want to make it clear that I do not agree with us remaining silent,” Garza said. ‘In dangerous times, honest people need to stand up. This is how I stand.’