Washington Post becomes second major US newspaper this week to not endorse a presidential candidate

Less than 2 weeks earlier Election Day, The Washington Post said Friday it would not endorse a campaigner for president successful this year's tightly contested title and would debar doing truthful successful nan early — a determination instantly condemned by a erstwhile executive editor but 1 that nan existent patient insisted was “consistent pinch nan values nan Post has ever stood for.”

In an article posted connected nan beforehand of its website, nan Post — reporting connected its ain soul workings — besides quoted unidentified sources wrong nan publication arsenic saying that an endorsement of Kamala Harris complete Donald Trump had been written but not published. Those sources told nan Post reporters that nan company's owner, billionaire Jeff Bezos, made nan decision.

The Post's publisher, Will Lewis, wrote in a column that nan determination was really a return to a contented nan insubstantial had years agone of not endorsing candidates. He said it reflected nan paper's religion successful “our readers' expertise to dress up their ain minds.”

“We admit that this will beryllium publication successful a scope of ways, including arsenic a tacit endorsement of 1 candidate, aliases arsenic a condemnation of another, aliases arsenic an abdication of responsibility. That is inevitable,” Lewis wrote. “We don’t spot it that way. We spot it arsenic accordant pinch nan values nan Post has ever stood for and what we dream for successful a leader: characteristic and courageousness successful work to nan American ethic, veneration for nan norm of law, and respect for quality state successful each its aspects.”

There was nary contiguous guidance from either campaign.

Lewis cited nan Post's history successful penning astir nan decision. According to him, nan Post only started regularly endorsing candidates for president erstwhile it backed Jimmy Carter successful 1976.

The Post said nan determination had “roiled" galore connected nan sentiment staff, which operates independently from nan Post's newsroom unit — what is known commonly successful nan manufacture arsenic a “church-state separation" betwixt those who study nan news and those who constitute opinion.

The Post's move comes nan aforesaid week that nan Los Angeles Times announced a akin decision, which triggered nan resignations of its editorial page editor and 2 different members of nan editorial board. In that instance, nan Times' owner, Patrick Soon-Shiong, insisted he had not censored nan editorial board, which had planned to endorse Harris.

“As an owner, I’m connected nan editorial committee and I shared pinch our editors that possibly this twelvemonth we person a column, a page, 2 pages, if we want, of each nan pros and each nan cons and fto nan readers decide,” Soon-Shiong said successful an question and reply Thursday pinch Spectrum News. He said he feared endorsing a campaigner would adhd to nan country’s division.

In August, nan recently rebranded Minnesota Star Tribune besides announced it would no longer endorse candidates. The insubstantial is owned by billionaire Glen Taylor, who besides owns nan Minnesota Timberwolves. Its patient is Steve Grove, who was economical improvement commissioner successful nan management of Gov. Tim Walz — Harris' moving mate.

Many American newspapers person been dropping editorial endorsements successful caller years. That is successful ample portion because astatine a clip readership has been dwindling, they don’t want to springiness remaining subscribers and news consumers a logic to get huffy and cancel their subscriptions.

Martin Baron, nan Post's executive editor from 2012 to 2021, was successful complaint of its newsroom successful 2013 erstwhile Bezos bought nan paper. Baron instantly condemned nan determination connected X Friday, saying it empowers Trump to further intimidate Bezos and others. "This is cowardice, pinch populist arsenic its casualty," he wrote. “Disturbing spinelessness astatine an institution famed for courage.”

The decisions travel astatine a fraught clip for American media, newspapers successful particular. Local news is drying up successful galore places. And aft being upended by nan economics of nan net and drastically evolving scholar habits, nan apical “legacy media” — including nan Post, The New York Times and others — person been struggling to support up pinch a changing landscape.

Nowhere is this much true, perhaps, than successful nan governmental arena. The candidates this twelvemonth person been rejecting immoderate mainstream interviews in favour of podcasts and different niche programming, and galore news organizations are vigorously ramping up to combat misinformation successful near-real clip connected Election Day, Nov. 5.

Trump, who for years called nan media covering him “the force of nan people,” has returned to specified rhetoric successful caller days. His vitriol successful peculiar is aimed astatine CBS, whose broadcast licence he has threatened to revoke.

On Thursday, astatine a rally successful Arizona, he returned to nan connection explicitly erstwhile more.

“They’re nan force of nan people. They are,” Trump said to a jeering crowd. “I’ve been asked not to opportunity that. I don’t want to opportunity it. And immoderate time they’re not going to beryllium nan force of nan people, I hope.”

The Post endorsed Trump’s Democratic rivals successful 2016 and 2020, and Trump has often denounced captious sum by nan paper. On Friday, aft Trump said successful Austin, he greeted executives from Blue Origin, Bezos' abstraction exploration company. Trump said concisely pinch Blue Origin's CEO and vice president of authorities relations. Some critics person publically speculated that Bezos wants to debar antagonizing Trump.

For nan Post, nan determination is definite to make statement beyond nan news cycle. It seemed to admit this pinch a statement from nan paper's letters and organization editor astatine nan apical of nan comments conception connected nan publisher’s column: "I cognize galore of you will person beardown feelings astir this statement from Mr. Lewis."

Indeed, by midafternoon, nan file had elicited much than 7,000 comments, galore critical. Said one, riffing disconnected nan Post's slogan, “Democracy Dies successful Darkness": “Time to alteration your motto to `Democracy dies successful wide daylight.'”

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Steve Karnowski successful Minnesota and Jonathan J. Cooper successful Arizona contributed to this report. Ted Anthony, head of caller storytelling and newsroom invention astatine nan AP, tin beryllium followed astatine http://x.com/anthonyted