Jeff Bezos refuses to support Harris, WaPo subscriptions plunge
The Washington Post was rocked by a wave of digital unsubscriptions on Monday morning. The crisis comes after the owner, Jeff Bezos, blocked an op-ed that endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
According to two sources inside the WaPo, more than 200,000 people have canceled their digital subscriptions. That figure represents about 8 percent of the paper’s paid circulation. “That’s a huge number,” Marcus Brauchli, the Post’s former executive editor, told NPR. “The problem is, people don’t know why this decision was made.”
WaPo CEO, Will Lewis, said the move was part of the Post’s return to its roots as an “independent newspaper”. But few people believe that logic. In an interview with NPR’s Morning Edition , former executive editor, Marty Baron, raised questions about the timing of the decision. He said that explanation would have been reasonable if the decision had been made a year or two ago. “Since it was made just days before the election, there must be other reasons for it.”
In an opinion piece published in the Post on Monday night, Bezos acknowledged that the timing was not ideal. But he said that “it was a matter of poor planning, not an intentional strategy.” He also rejected accusations that he was seeking to please Republican nominee Donald Trump or protect his own business interests.
(MH with Insaf A./Source: NPR/Picture: Pixabay)