‘Endorsement creates bias’: Jeff Bezos defends Washington Post’s call to sit out US polls

The Post and The Los Angeles Times are two high-profile dailies in the US which have refused to endorse any presidential candidate in a bid to remain independent and objective in their reportage. The New York Times, however, has thrown its weight behind Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.

The decision by The Post and The LA Times, have sparked massive outrage in the US, especially from liberal subscribers and prompted Mariel Garza, an editor at The LA Times to resign over the daily’s alleged lack of resolve to stand up. The Post reportedly lost around 2 lakh readers due to its decision to sit out the polls.

Principled call to end perception of bias, says Bezos

In an op-ed, published on Monday (October 28), Bezos said the “principled decision” to do away with political endorsement was a step towards promoting independent and objective journalism and end the ritual of creating a “perception of bias”.

“Presidential endorsements do nothing to tip the scales of an election,” he wrote.

Also read: Washington Post’s refusal to endorse candidate on Bezos’ fiat sparks fury

“What presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias. A perception of non-independence. Ending them is a principled decision, and it’s the right one,” he said.

‘No quid pro quo with Trump’

Rumours of Bezos backing Trump through backchannels started floating after the latter met executives from ‘Blue Origin’, another of Bezos’ businesses, on the very same day The Post announced its decision not to back any presidential candidate. Clearing the air on the speculations, Bezos said the meeting was an unrelated occurrence and no quid pro quo was involved in it.

“I would also like to be clear that no quid pro quo of any kind is at work here. Neither campaign nor candidate was consulted or informed at any level or in any way about this decision. It was made entirely internally. Dave Limp, the chief executive of one of my companies, Blue Origin, met with former president Donald Trump on the day of our announcement,” Bezos wrote in the editorial piece.

“I sighed when I found out, because I knew it would provide ammunition to those who would like to frame this as anything other than a principled decision. But the fact is, I didn’t know about the meeting beforehand. Even Limp didn’t know about it in advance; the meeting was scheduled quickly that morning. There is no connection between it and our decision on presidential endorsements, and any suggestion otherwise is false,” he said.

‘Changes a must despite criticisms’

Pointing to the declining fortunes of newspapers in an era where social media provides news in a jiffy, albeit from unverified sources, Bezos said the stakes for the industry at this point are much higher than before.

“Now more than ever the world needs a credible, trusted, independent voice, and where better for that voice to originate than the capital city of the most important country in the world?” he wrote.

Also read: US presidential polls: ‘The Post’, ‘LA Times’ refuse to take sides. This is how democracy dies

Bezos said to usher in the change, new decisions will have to be taken despite brickbats.

“Some changes will be a return to the past, and some will be new inventions. Criticism will be part and parcel of anything new, of course. This is the way of the world. None of this will be easy, but it will be worth it. I am so grateful to be part of this endeavor. Many of the finest journalists you’ll find anywhere work at The Washington Post, and they work painstakingly every day to get to the truth. They deserve to be believed,” he said.