ysabetwordsmith | The Washington Post Goes Dark

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.

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For folks who want to find news that isn't being slanted by politics, would it work to listen to a variety of overseas media? They'd be less invested in local political biases (though admittedly not totally unbiased.)

That's one of my tactics. But in this case, it's hard to find more than "This American election is insane." True, but not very helpful.

Maybe not as great for deciding who to vote into your local Board of Education, but might be able to give a decent outsider's perspective on presidential candidates.

Incidentally, I always seem to find that it is a pain finding information on BoE candidates.
>:(

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

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

Diverse viewpoints are generally good, if occasionally annoying.

>> 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.

Deutsche Welle is great for economic impact articles. "What does this new tariff do, and how is it affecting the local people?" is a regular topic, for example.

The Washington Post Goes Dark

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