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Jeff Bezos killed Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris

cnbc.com

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Re: Jeff Bezos killed Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris

#611

Post by mandevil »

jfoster wrote: post #600
Molitor5901 wrote: post #11

To play Devils Advocate for a moment: Why do we need, or even want, a newspaper to endorse a President? How does it not undermine a paper's journalistic ethics to be neutral and fair?

I would extend that to all businesses. For the sake of the business & their customers it's usually best to keep politics out of it.

As long as the Post has an editorial page, with people employed to share their opinions, what are they supposed to do?

Opinion and reporting are separate- famously the WSJ reporting is quite strong and their opinion section is ... often wrong- but as long as an opinion section exists that's kinda their job, to share their opinion. If you want to get rid of opinion that might be a reasonable thing (with cable news and the internet no one has a shortage of opinion these days!) but doing it in such a ham-fisted way so close to the election is not a sign of a carefully thought-out business decision, it's a sign of cowardice.

Re: Jeff Bezos killed Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris

#612

Post by eapressoandcats »

chrisco255 wrote: post #579

Endorsements have never been without the blessing and influence of the owner of that paper or institution. The extent that an owner lets the editorial team pick an endorsement is the same extent to which they align philosophically. It's an illusion of choice or independence. If papers were meant to be more neutral, I suppose they would need to be owned as cooperatives by the subscribers themselves, assuming the subsc…

The key point here is that despite all their biases, the Washington Post and The New York Times were at least perceived as independent, with both of them famously publishing articles that would upset those in power. If their owners feel the need to spike articles unfavorable to the administration, then no more Pentagon Papers etc.

Re: Jeff Bezos killed Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris

#613

Post by ajross »

chrisco255 wrote: post #579

Endorsements have never been without the blessing and influence of the owner of that paper or institution. The extent that an owner lets the editorial team pick an endorsement is the same extent to which they align philosophically. It's an illusion of choice or independence. If papers were meant to be more neutral, I suppose they would need to be owned as cooperatives by the subscribers themselves, assuming the subsc…

Has an owner ever killed an already-written endorsement 11 days out from an election? You're right that there is an implicit assumption that an owner condones the paper's operation. But to exert control like this so specifically and in such a baldly partisan way is unprecedented, thus the resignations both at the Post and the LA Times.

It's one thing to hire an editorial staff with whom you agree, it's quite another to step in and overrule their attempt to do the job you hired them to do.

Re: Jeff Bezos killed Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris

#614

Post by rufus_foreman »

kasey_junk wrote: post #582
rufus_foreman wrote: post #548

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> You want them to name... readers of newspapers? Obviously not. I want them to name readers who seek out newspaper opinions. One name to start with. Do you seek out newspaper opinions?

Yes. I read the opinion sections on all 4 of the major newspapers I subscribe to. Why wouldn’t I?

Reading is not seeking out.

Re: Jeff Bezos killed Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris

#615

Post by eapressoandcats »

carbatterylife wrote: post #331

[flagged]

The worry is 100% that this is happening to please Trump. The evidence is that he hasn’t had a hand in editorials until now all of a sudden.

It’s his choice I suppose but I don’t think it’s crazy to be worried about the precedent of a formerly very independent institution caving so readily.

Re: Jeff Bezos killed Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris

#616

Post by zahlman »

zmmmmm wrote: post #312
Molitor5901 wrote: post #11

To play Devils Advocate for a moment: Why do we need, or even want, a newspaper to endorse a President? How does it not undermine a paper's journalistic ethics to be neutral and fair?

Endorsements are published by the editorial section which is specifically separated from the rest of the newspaper so to not undermine the neutrality of the journalism in the other sections. Opinion and analysis has always been part of news publications, and plays an accepted role in adding layers of interpretation onto the raw "facts" that is crucial in making those facts interpretable by readers who aren't expert i…

>the editorial section which is specifically separated from the rest of the newspaper

It hasn't felt like this to me for many years, for pretty much any outlet.

Re: Jeff Bezos killed Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris

#617

Post by eapressoandcats »

dotnet00 wrote: post #257

I like this trend of taking neutral positions that seems to be picking up again, although the timing for this doesn't look good. Just as how universities are starting to adopt neutrality, so should news outlets.

There’s not really any such thing as neutrality. Arguably universities can maybe step away from things (although this is complicated with departments that are inherently political), but “neutral” if you’re writing about politics always reflects some kind of value judgement. By definition one person’s neutrality is someone else’s bias.

Re: Jeff Bezos killed Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris

#618

Post by warner25 »

laidoffamazon wrote: post #596
nomdep wrote: post #480

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sick of this absurd FUD. You surely must realize that the claims that if Trump wins, democracy is going to end are just fearmongering, don't you?

He literally tried an autogolpe. I saw it, live, on TV with my own eyes and ears. He's currently promising to pardon the people that participated in it that have been prosecuted while pardoning himself due to his own immune status. That's how a Banana Republic functions.

That and talking about prosecuting the political opposition along with journalists, poll workers, and career public servants just for doing their jobs. And using the military to do it.

I don't actually think he'll be able to end democracy, because I think a sufficient number of Americans (including in the military) will stand up to him, but I do believe he'd like to.

Re: Jeff Bezos killed Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris

#619

Post by dang »

morkalork wrote: post #536
dang wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your comment broke several of the site guidelines, by (1) posting in the flamewar style, including nationalistic flamebait, (2) being snarky, (3) doing political battle, and (4) commenting about getting downvoted. Would you mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and sticking to the rules? We'd appreciate it because we're trying to avoid hell here.

https://www.npr.org/2024/10/22/nx-s1-5161480/trump-media-thr... "More specifically, Trump has pledged to toss reporters in jail and strip major television networks of their broadcast licenses as retribution for coverage he didn't like." But hey, I'm doing political battle? You guys really are in denial.

Yes he says bad things and yes your comment broke several HN guidelines.

Re: Jeff Bezos killed Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris

#620

Post by eapressoandcats »

oysterville wrote: post #258

Did people really think that billionaires wanted to buy major press outlets for profit expectations? Controlling the narrative was always the plan. Unless it's private equity. They just strip it bare and put it out of business.

People did warn about it at the time too.

I fail to see why being upset about the bad thing actually happening means people didn’t think that was the plan.

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