Bezos Pens 909-Word Defense of WaPo Decision

Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos defended his decision to block the newspaper from endorsing a presidential candidate, via a 909-word op-ed published in the Post. In Bezos' view, most people today believe the media to be biased, and endorsements aren't helping. He says polls show the public now trusts journalists less than any other profession—including Congress—and that the decision was necessary in order to ensure the Post remains an "independent voice." A key quote:

• "Presidential endorsements do nothing to tip the scales of an election. No undecided voters in Pennsylvania are going to say, 'I'm going with Newspaper A's endorsement.' None. What presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias. A perception of non-independence. Ending them is a principled decision, and it's the right one."

He adds that the Post previously had a policy of non-endorsement under publisher Eugene Meyer. He also addresses one big criticism and one big question that have come up in the wake of the Post's announcement:

• Criticism: The change was made too close to the election. Bezos agrees, writing, "I wish we had made the change earlier than we did, in a moment further from the election and the emotions around it. That was inadequate planning, and not some intentional strategy."
• Question: Was either of the major presidential campaigns aware of the decision in advance? Bezos says no. "Neither campaign nor candidate was consulted or informed at any level or in any way about this decision. It was made entirely internally," he writes, though he acknowledges Blue Origin's CEO met with Donald Trump the same day the Post made its announcement—a meeting Bezos did not know about in advance. "Every day, somewhere, some Amazon executive or Blue Origin executive or someone from the other philanthropies and companies I own or invest in is meeting with government officials," Bezos writes, but he insists that fact makes no impact on the way the Post is run.

Meanwhile, two sources from the Post tell NPR more than 200,000 people have canceled their subscriptions since the decision was announced. (More Washington Post stories.)