Publisher and CEO Will Lewis says so Washingtonpost‘ is ‘returning to our roots of not supporting presidential candidates’, although 1988 was the last time the country abstained from a general election.
hide caption

change caption

Although the presidential race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris is neck and neck, The Washington Post has decided not to issue a presidential endorsement for the first time in 36 years, the publisher and CEO announced Friday.

“We are returning to our roots of not supporting presidential candidates,” Will Lewis wrote in an op-ed on the newspaper’s website. He was referring to the newspaper’s policies in the decades leading up to 1976, when, after the Watergate scandal that After broke, it supported Democratic candidate Jimmy Carter. The last time the Post did not endorse a presidential candidate in the general election was in 1988, a search of its archives shows.

Colleagues heard the news from the editorial page editor, David Shipley, during a tense meeting shortly before Lewis’ announcement. The meeting featured someone with direct knowledge of discussions who could speak about internal matters on the condition of anonymity.

Shipley said he was told by management Thursday to other newsroom leaders that there would be no approval, even though he had known for weeks. He added that he “owns” this decision. The reason he cited was to create an “independent space” where the newspaper does not tell people who to vote for.

Colleagues are said to be “shocked” and unanimously negative. After company spokespeople did not respond to multiple messages left by NPR on the subject.

Former Washingtonpost Executive Editor Martin Baron, who led the newsroom to high praise during Trump’s presidency, strongly denounced the decision.

“This is cowardice, a moment of darkness that will leave democracy a victim,” Baron said in a statement to NPR. “Donald Trump will celebrate this as an invitation to further intimidate The Post’s owner, Jeff Bezos (and other media owners). History will mark a disturbing chapter of spinelessness at an institution famous for its courage.”

A similar decision by Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong led to the resignation of the newspaper’s editorial editor and two editorial staff this week. Soon-Shiong said he asked the editors to prepare a “factual analysis” of Trump and Harris’ policies and plans. In her resignation letter, editor-in-chief Mariel Garza said the decision made the newspaper appear “cowardly and hypocritical” given its past reporting and editorials about Trump.

The AfterThe country’s investigative team has routinely reported on misconduct and allegations of illegality by former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, and his associates. The newsroom, which is run separately from the newsroom, has repeatedly stated that Trump’s actions in office and his rhetoric as a candidate have made him unfit for office.

The focus was primarily on what he did in January 2021 to encourage his supporters to deny the formal certification of President Biden’s election.

The possibility that the After could withhold an endorsement, it was first reported in Oliver Darcy’s Status newsletter. Even before Friday’s announcement, the potential lack of a feature story caused consternation among journalists within the paper Afterwho see it as a major American publication that must pay attention to the most pressing issue of the day.

After owner Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and one of the richest people in the world, has major contracts for the federal government for his other business activities, impacting billions of dollars on Amazon’s shipping business and cloud computing services, as well as his space company Blue Origin.

He brought in Lewis, who has significant conservative bonafides, as publisher and CEO in January. Lewis fulfilled the same role with Rupert Murdoch Wall Street Journal; served as editor of the London-based Telegraphwho is closely associated with the Tory party; and was an advisor to the conservative Boris Johnson when Johnson was Prime Minister of Great Britain.

Colleagues have told NPR that Bezos selected Lewis in part because of his ability to deal with powerful conservative figures, including Murdoch.