The Washington Post Goes Dark

[ysabetwordsmith]

The Washington Post, a formerly reliable newspaper, is owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos. For the first time in decades, the newspaper will not endorse a presidential candidate, because the rich man who owns it forbade them to endorse Kamala Harris. This is the kind of thing I mean when I say that America is not a democracy, but a plutocracy. It is not "freedom of the press."

Unsurprisingly many readers -- including my partner Doug -- have decided that their money is better spent elsewhere. After all, if he's censoring this piece that we know about, what else is he censoring or adulterating that we don't know about? If you have a subscription, you might want to reconsider that choice in light of this offense against journalism. Among my favorites is In These Times. (which is vigorously promoting Kamala Harris).

The masthead then and now.

This is not a fluke. Many other newpapers are suffering the same fate. They are stepping back from endorsements at a time when free and responsible press is most needed to counter propaganda and outright disinformation. Use your folding vote, folks. Support good journalism while we still have some.

Comments

Re: I did that for years

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> I'm still looking at local media to see which way they're slanted (almost always conservative, ranging into very conservative).<<

Disappointing, but hardly a surprise.

>> After awhile, it becomes a habit to think of news as *one* view of things.<<

When that's the pattern, it makes sense. It's also why we need diverse media.