At least two more staffers have written their last stories for The Washington Post as staffers have resigned in protest of the broadsheet’s decision not to endorse Kamala Harris for the 2024 presidential election.
Semaphore Media journalists, editorial board members David Hoffman and Molly Roberts have issued their resignations Max Tanny gave this information on MondayTwo longtime Washington Post employees wrote resignation letters criticizing the newspaper’s decision not to endorse Harris.
Hoffman, who won a Pulitzer Prize last week and first joined the newspaper in 1982, wrote in his resignation letter, “I believe we face a very real threat of authoritarianism in the candidacy of Donald Trump.” I find it unsettling and unconscionable that we have lost our voice at this dangerous moment.”
Roberts, another longtime employee of The Post who first joined the newspaper as a student intern while studying at Harvard University, said she was resigning because of the newspaper’s refusal to endorse Harris. Are.
“I am resigning from The Post editorial board because the moral imperative to support Kamala Harris over Donald Trump is clear,” Roberts wrote in his resignation letter. “Worse, our silence is exactly what Donald Trump wants: for the media, for us, to remain silent.”
Their notices join another known resignation among the editorial staff.
The Washington Post announced this on Friday It will not support any presidential candidateBreaking a 36-year tradition – and generating outrage from employees, customers and journalists at other outlets.
The newspaper then published an article written by two journalists stating that editorial page staff had already drafted endorsements for Vice President Kamala Harris.
“The decision not to publish was made by The Post’s owner — Amazon founder Jeff Bezos,” The Washington Post reported, citing two sources briefed on the events.
Bezos hired ex-Wall Street Journal boss Will Lewis as the newspaper’s CEO and publisher in January, despite internal opposition over his alleged involvement in the UK phone hacking scandal.
Lewis has said that it was he who killed Harris’s support, not Bezos. In a column, he wrote that the newspaper was not breaking with tradition, but returning to the newspaper’s practice of years past of not endorsing candidates.
He said it was “consistent with the values for which the Post has always stood” and that it reflected the newspaper’s confidence in “the ability of our readers to form their own opinions”.
“We recognize that this will be read in a number of ways, including as a tacit endorsement of one candidate, or as a condemnation of another, or as a denial of responsibility. It is inevitable,” Lewis wrote.
“We don’t see it that way. We see this as consistent with the values for which Post has always stood and what we expect from a leader: character and courage in the service of American morality, respect for the rule of law, and for human freedom in all its aspects. Respect. ,
Robert Kagan, a member of the opinion section, resigned in protest. He said Lewis’s explanation was “laughable” and the decision not to endorse stemmed from From an alleged deal between Bezos and former President Donald Trump.
Kagan told The Daily Beast that Trump’s meeting with executives from Bezos’ space company Blue Origin on the same day the endorsement ended was evidence of his plan.
Following the newspaper’s non-endorsement, some Washington Post readers canceled their subscriptions and encouraged others on social media to do the same.
The turmoil in The Post’s newsroom echoes the chaos at the Los Angeles Times, where at least three editorial staff Resigned in protest over owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong’s decision to stop endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris.
Soon-Shiong’s daughter refuses to endorse Harris arising from dissatisfaction on the Biden administration’s Israel policies, although the billionaire denied that was the case.
Some have interpreted the lack of support as an attempt by Bezos to make amends with former President Donald Trump after their difficult history.
During his tenure as president, Trump frequently criticized Bezos for The Washington Post’s left-leaning coverage.
In 2019, Amazon accuses Trump of political vendetta after his administration Pentagon refused to give $10 billion contract to the company Providing cloud computing services.
