Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos reportedly blocked the paper’s plan to endorse Kamala Harris and thousands of readers have canceled their subscriptions.
One person familiar with the figures told Semafor that the decision already seemed to be impacting subscriptions. In the 24 hours ending Friday afternoon, about 2,000 subscribers canceled their subscriptions, an unusually high number, an employee said. Another email that the Post sent out to subscribers on Friday also prompted a flurry of complaints from readers about the paper’s lack of an endorsement.
Another person who had seen the numbers downplayed them, saying the rate of cancellation Friday was “not statistically significant.”
The New York Times reported that The Washington Post has only added 4,000 subscribers this year. If that is correct and the number of subscription cancelations are correct, The Post has lost half of its growth for the year in a day.
The rest of the newspaper’s staff is not happy with the non-endorsement decision, except for the Murdoch trained right wingers the Bezos brought in to run his paper.
Make no mistake about it. Jeff Bezos made it clear to the world that The Washington Post isn’t some kind of press institution that has a responsibility to the nation. The Washington Post belongs to Jeff Bezos and he will do whatever he wants with it even if all credibility is lost and he runs the paper into the ground.
To comment on this story, join us on Reddit.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
