OMG, Kate. I am away on a mini holiday weekend and missed this news. Thank you for your powerful coverage here. I am so sad and worried (to put it mildly) about this. A native Washingtonian, I am horrified. As an American, I am horrified. Sharing and quoting you in my substack.
Thank you for this powerful and timely piece. You nailed it—this is a moral failure at a moment when courage is needed most. It brings to mind Manufacturing Consent by Chomsky and Herman, which talks about how media owned by powerful elites tends to cater to those same interests. What’s happening here feels like an example of that—these non-endorsements aren’t just neutrality; they’re a way to sidestep consequences from someone like Trump, who’s known for going after his critics - something Chomsky referred to as flak
Zuboff’s work on Surveillance Capitalism also feels relevant. She talks about how big tech companies don’t just control what we see, but how we think - ‘epistemic power’. In this case, the decision not to endorse isn’t just silence—it’s a way of shaping what’s sayable and unsayable, steering the conversation in subtle but powerful ways. It’s unsettling to see this kind of quiet manipulation at play in a time when we need transparency and accountability more than ever - especially from revered news outlets like the Post
On the personal side, I can only imagine how distressing this is for you and dear colleagues who have worked so valiantly in journalism for the benefit of the rest of us. Thank you for your service! And I hope you all find your ways through this trying time. 🙏🏼☮️
Great piece, a gem, i look forward to following all your work. Staying on at an Institution that has sold its mooring is always a major personal mistake. You made the right move. Integrity is contagious, travel widely.
I gave up on the WaPo as soon as Bezos bought it, but am still devastated by this latest proof that corporate journalism is a conflict of interest that undermines our very civilization!
Thanks for the link to text. Turns out I had read it yesterday, thanks to Liza Donnelly.
I research and write about German resistance during the Shoah. Abdication of journalistic integrity is critical to that research. Spent weeks in the archives of local papers, reading and taking notes on 1933-37, 1937 being the year that alignment was final and coerced.
Any paper that begins the road to voluntary “alignment” pre-fascism is dead to me.
When Jeff Bezos had his “dick pic” exposed publicly, he said “If somebody in my position can’t stand up to this, who can?” What is his excuse for not applying the same logic to standing up to fascism?
“Which Will Prevail – Trumpism or a Free Press?” explored earlier in this election how the press should have approached covering Donald Trump, and a later article in the series “We Are All the Media Now” explains how if “somebody like Bezos” won’t do it, the rest of us can do so through our collective voices. It’s not too late. In fact, now might be the perfect time.
Let’s use the Washington Post’s failure to stand up to Trump as an “endorsement in reverse.” People who care and have COURAGE should shout from the rooftops about the Post’s and Los Angeles Times failure to endorse a presidential candidate in this election, and urge any voter who is still undecided to weigh this heavily into their decision. Trump is buying off billionaires or bullying them into submission BEFORE he has power, and this will lead to an oligarchy much like Putin has created in Russia if we don’t expose it now before Trump has the powers of the presidency.
They had the chance to be heroic and they still do. That endorsement still exists and they can walk out en masse if he refuses to publish it. To a reader it looks as if they don’t understand the danger. If Trump is elected next week and they could have done something to stop it, they will bitterly regret it. People are canceling subscriptions because they feel betrayed….we’ve all felt there were strange efforts to be ‘fair’ to Trump —instead of being fair to those who will suffer if he’s elected.
I agree with the thrust of your concern but the trouble is that our choices for president is between horrendous and horrendously horrific. Given this choice it’s hard to vote “for” a candidate rather than against a candidate and therefore I give the Washington Post a pass on what otherwise would have been a clear violation of their duty to try to uphold democracy. I’m sorry to have that opinion. I truly am.
OMG, Kate. I am away on a mini holiday weekend and missed this news. Thank you for your powerful coverage here. I am so sad and worried (to put it mildly) about this. A native Washingtonian, I am horrified. As an American, I am horrified. Sharing and quoting you in my substack.
Thank you for elevating, Liza. It’s discouraging to say the least. Hope comes in dissent.
Thank you for this powerful and timely piece. You nailed it—this is a moral failure at a moment when courage is needed most. It brings to mind Manufacturing Consent by Chomsky and Herman, which talks about how media owned by powerful elites tends to cater to those same interests. What’s happening here feels like an example of that—these non-endorsements aren’t just neutrality; they’re a way to sidestep consequences from someone like Trump, who’s known for going after his critics - something Chomsky referred to as flak
Zuboff’s work on Surveillance Capitalism also feels relevant. She talks about how big tech companies don’t just control what we see, but how we think - ‘epistemic power’. In this case, the decision not to endorse isn’t just silence—it’s a way of shaping what’s sayable and unsayable, steering the conversation in subtle but powerful ways. It’s unsettling to see this kind of quiet manipulation at play in a time when we need transparency and accountability more than ever - especially from revered news outlets like the Post
On the personal side, I can only imagine how distressing this is for you and dear colleagues who have worked so valiantly in journalism for the benefit of the rest of us. Thank you for your service! And I hope you all find your ways through this trying time. 🙏🏼☮️
Thanks to Liza Donnelly for introducing me to your Substack home!
Thanks for joining me here.
Thank you!
Appreciate you reading.
Great piece, a gem, i look forward to following all your work. Staying on at an Institution that has sold its mooring is always a major personal mistake. You made the right move. Integrity is contagious, travel widely.
I gave up on the WaPo as soon as Bezos bought it, but am still devastated by this latest proof that corporate journalism is a conflict of interest that undermines our very civilization!
I feel conflicted about giving up on a newspaper because I know how hard working its journalists and editors are. I feel less conflicted about giving up Amazon Prime. https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2024/10/washington-post-bezos-amazon-prime-cancel/680421/
Thanks for the link to text. Turns out I had read it yesterday, thanks to Liza Donnelly.
I research and write about German resistance during the Shoah. Abdication of journalistic integrity is critical to that research. Spent weeks in the archives of local papers, reading and taking notes on 1933-37, 1937 being the year that alignment was final and coerced.
Any paper that begins the road to voluntary “alignment” pre-fascism is dead to me.
When Jeff Bezos had his “dick pic” exposed publicly, he said “If somebody in my position can’t stand up to this, who can?” What is his excuse for not applying the same logic to standing up to fascism?
“Which Will Prevail – Trumpism or a Free Press?” explored earlier in this election how the press should have approached covering Donald Trump, and a later article in the series “We Are All the Media Now” explains how if “somebody like Bezos” won’t do it, the rest of us can do so through our collective voices. It’s not too late. In fact, now might be the perfect time.
Let’s use the Washington Post’s failure to stand up to Trump as an “endorsement in reverse.” People who care and have COURAGE should shout from the rooftops about the Post’s and Los Angeles Times failure to endorse a presidential candidate in this election, and urge any voter who is still undecided to weigh this heavily into their decision. Trump is buying off billionaires or bullying them into submission BEFORE he has power, and this will lead to an oligarchy much like Putin has created in Russia if we don’t expose it now before Trump has the powers of the presidency.
https://crisafulli.substack.com/p/which-will-prevail-trumpism-or-a-free-press-part-1
Bezos Bozo is widely loathed. This just makes the circle larger.
They had the chance to be heroic and they still do. That endorsement still exists and they can walk out en masse if he refuses to publish it. To a reader it looks as if they don’t understand the danger. If Trump is elected next week and they could have done something to stop it, they will bitterly regret it. People are canceling subscriptions because they feel betrayed….we’ve all felt there were strange efforts to be ‘fair’ to Trump —instead of being fair to those who will suffer if he’s elected.
Now there’s a banality…
I don’t understand people that think lying is optional. It’s a child like behavior, a child that isn’t old enough to think critically.
I agree with the thrust of your concern but the trouble is that our choices for president is between horrendous and horrendously horrific. Given this choice it’s hard to vote “for” a candidate rather than against a candidate and therefore I give the Washington Post a pass on what otherwise would have been a clear violation of their duty to try to uphold democracy. I’m sorry to have that opinion. I truly am.
Odd that the la times doesn't get the same scrutiny
https://marlowe1.substack.com/p/job-chapter-22
Faith or fear? Choose wisely.
Harris or scare us?
Let the gravediggers do the digging, don't bury us yet.