Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Raw Story - 'Right decision': 'Proud' Jeff Bezos doubles down on scuttling Washington Post endorsement
Raw Story - 'Right decision': 'Proud' Jeff Bezos doubles down on scuttling Washington Post endorsement
Matthew Chapman
December 4, 2024 7:53PM ET
Tech billionaire Jeff Bezos isn't at all sorry he intervened to block The Washington Post from endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, in a new interview at The New York Times Deadbook Summit, reported The Hollywood Reporter.
In fact, he says he's "proud" of the decision.
“We knew that this was going to be perceived in a very big way, these things punch above their weight. You can’t do the wrong thing because you are worried about bad PR, or whatever you want to call it," he said. “I am very aware that the Post covers all presidents very aggressively, and will continue to cover all presidents very aggressively.”
He added that he is working on a new plan to "turn around" the Post.
“I have a bunch of ideas, and I am working on that right now. We saved The Washington Post once, this will be the second time. It needs to be put back on a good footing again.“
Bezos' justification for overruling the opinion newsroom to block political endorsements was that endorsements in general foster a lack of trust in media. Journalism experts have argued Bezos doesn't fully grasp how newspaper endorsements work; they are made by an editorial board that inherently publishes opinion content and is separate from straight news reporting. Moreover, endorsements are made as part of a process that also involves interviewing candidates and informing readers of how they responded to questions, and ending endorsements thus ends a lot of useful information readers receive about candidates in the first place.
/snip
Matthew Chapman
December 4, 2024 7:53PM ET
Tech billionaire Jeff Bezos isn't at all sorry he intervened to block The Washington Post from endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, in a new interview at The New York Times Deadbook Summit, reported The Hollywood Reporter.
In fact, he says he's "proud" of the decision.
“We knew that this was going to be perceived in a very big way, these things punch above their weight. You can’t do the wrong thing because you are worried about bad PR, or whatever you want to call it," he said. “I am very aware that the Post covers all presidents very aggressively, and will continue to cover all presidents very aggressively.”
He added that he is working on a new plan to "turn around" the Post.
“I have a bunch of ideas, and I am working on that right now. We saved The Washington Post once, this will be the second time. It needs to be put back on a good footing again.“
Bezos' justification for overruling the opinion newsroom to block political endorsements was that endorsements in general foster a lack of trust in media. Journalism experts have argued Bezos doesn't fully grasp how newspaper endorsements work; they are made by an editorial board that inherently publishes opinion content and is separate from straight news reporting. Moreover, endorsements are made as part of a process that also involves interviewing candidates and informing readers of how they responded to questions, and ending endorsements thus ends a lot of useful information readers receive about candidates in the first place.
/snip
Fuck him. I don't miss Amazon Prime at all.
2 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
