THE Washington Post will not support any candidate in the American presidential election, its general director announced Friday. The daily’s journalists’ union accused owner Jeff Bezos of blocking support for Kamala Harris.
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William Lewis announced that the prestigious newspaper, famous for revealing Watergate, would also refrain from calling for votes for the candidate in future elections, in an online post which aroused numerous reactions, most of them indignant , of readers.
A source close to the newspaper’s management assured that the decision had been taken by the daily itself and that it was “ fake » to attribute it to its owner. “ We are aware that this decision will give rise to numerous interpretations, that it will be seen as implicit support for one of the candidates or the rejection of another or as an avoidance of our responsibilities », Writes the director general, while the polls have so far failed to decide between Democratic Vice-President Kamala Harris and former Republican President Donald Trump.
A “ interference “, according to the daily journalists’ union
The journalists’ union of Washington Post said to himself “ very concerned » by this decision, “ just 11 days before an election with immense stakes “, and worries about a “ interference » in the decisions of the editorial committee. “ According to our journalists and members, support for Harris had already been drafted, and the owner of the “Post”Jeff Bezos, made the decision not to publish it », Continues the organization in a press release published on X.
The major American daily, owned by the founder of Amazon since 2013, had supported the Democratic presidential candidates in 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020. Jeff Bezos has signed major contracts with the American government in recent years, and in particular with the Pentagon, in the field of data storage (“ cloud “).
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“ A return to basics » for the director
Chief executive William Lewis described Friday’s decision as a “ back to basics », arguing that the Washington Post had, for example, refrained from calling for a vote for either candidate in 1960, before the election won by John F. Kennedy. “ Our job, as a daily newspaper in the capital of the most important country in the world, is to be independent. This is what we are and always will be », he concludes.
His post sparked an avalanche of furious comments from Internet users, most of whom promised to cancel their subscriptions. “ I will not give money to a media outlet that thrives on cowardice ”, said one. “ We’re all going to die in the dark and Jeff Bezos turned out the light », writes another, in reference to the famous motto of the newspaper, “ Democracy dies in darkness “.
This decision of Washington Post comes after the owner of another major American daily, the Los Angeles Timesblocked the decision of the newspaper’s editorial board, which wanted to support Kamala Harris. Friday, the New York Postan ultra-conservative tabloid owned by tycoon Rupert Murdoch, called for people to vote for Donald Trump.
On September 30, the editorial board of the prestigious New York Times had given his support to the Democratic candidate. THE Boston Globe and the Philadelphia Inquirerbased in the hotly contested state of Pennsylvania, did the same.
These successive announcements come in a campaign which saw the big names of the American press lose their influenceamong voters and the candidates themselves, whose attention is increasingly focused on other media such as podcasts or TikTok.
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