# Bezos, Trump and the Washington Post **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [September 26, 2023, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bezos-trump-and-the-washington-post/990759 "2023-09-26T23:51:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2023, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bezos-trump-and-the-washington-post/990759/1 "2023-09-26T23:51:23Z")
This _Atlantic_ article probably takes a rosy view of WaPo, its interactions with Trump. and commenting on objectivity in modern journalism at a time when some are untrusting or see this as passé. I have no idea about if Bezos leadership is as portrayed. But I do like WaPo, and was even surprised to find myself subscribing to it. It’s a longish read and may be paywalled. But for those who can read it or offer a gift link, I am curious about collective comment. Defending democracy? Bloviating puffery? What do the learned teeming Dopers think about any of this? Not surprising Trump tried to use a fancy dinner for better coverage and turn hissy within a week when it didn’t manifest… > **[How We Got ‘Democracy Dies in Darkness’](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/11/washington-post-editor-journalism-covering-trump/675438/)** > > And other stories from eight years running The Washington Post ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2023, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bezos-trump-and-the-washington-post/990759/2 "2023-09-26T23:53:25Z")
If someone feels this is more political than feel free to move it. I generally don’t try to steer discussion once I post, and initially thought comments (if any) might conceivably be social, economic, etc. or about Bezos, so posted to this forum. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bezos-trump-and-the-washington-post/990759/3 "2023-09-27T01:38:19Z")
**Excerpt** _“Democracy dies in darkness” [chosen by Bezos] made its debut, without announcement, in mid-February 2017. And I’ve never seen a slogan—I mean, mission statement—get such a reaction. It drew [widespread international] attention. Late Show host Stephen Colbert joked that some of the rejected phrases had included “No, you shut up” and “We took down Nixon—who wants next?” … The media critic Jack Shafer tweeted a handful of his own “rejected Washington Post mottos,” among them “We’re really full of ourselves” and “Democracy Gets Sunburned If It Doesn’t Use Sunscreen.”_ _Like others at the Post, I had questioned the wisdom of branding all our work with death and darkness. All I could think of at that point, though, was the Serenity Prayer: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.” But the phrase stuck with readers, who saw it as perfect for the Trump era, even if that was not its intent._ … _Five months after his inauguration, President Trump had responded to a request from the publisher for a meeting, and had invited us to dinner. We were joined by the first lady, Melania Trump, and Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner. By coincidence, just as we were sitting down, at 7 p.m., the Post [published a report] that Special Counsel Robert Mueller was inquiring into Kushner’s business dealings in Russia, part of Mueller’s investigation into that country’s interference in the 2016 election. The story followed another by the Post [revealing that Kushner had met secretly with the Russian ambassador]… and had proposed that a Russian diplomatic post be used to provide a secure communications line between Trump officials and the Kremlin. The Post had reported as well that Kushner met later with the head of a Russian-owned development bank._ _Hope Hicks, a young Trump aide, handed Kushner her phone. Our news alert had just gone out, reaching millions of mobile devices, including hers. “Very Shakespearean,” she whispered to Kushner. “Dining with your enemies.” Hiatt, who had overheard, whispered back, “We’re not your enemies.”_ _[Story about how both Trump and Kushner asked for more favourable coverage. When told this would not change, Trump used his bully pulpit. Then they talk about how some journalists see objectivity as impossible given biases, complexity and perspective.]_ _Journalists routinely expect objectivity from others. Like everyone else, we want objective judges. We want objective juries. We want police officers to be objective when they make arrests and detectives to be objective in assessing evidence. We want prosecutors to evaluate cases objectively, with no prejudice or preexisting agendas. Without objectivity, there can be no equity in law enforcement, as abhorrent abuses have demonstrated all too often. We want doctors to be objective in diagnosing the medical conditions of their patients, uncontaminated by bigotry or baseless hunches. We want medical researchers and regulators to be objective in determining whether new drugs might work and can be safely consumed. We want scientists to be objective in evaluating the impact of chemicals in the soil, air, and water. Objectivity in all these fields, and others, gets no argument from journalists. We accept it, even insist on it by seeking to expose transgressions. Journalists should insist on it for ourselves as well._ ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2023, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bezos-trump-and-the-washington-post/990759/4 "2023-09-27T22:44:29Z")
Wonder if the timing of this is a coincidence due to Amazon being criticized for other things? ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2023, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bezos-trump-and-the-washington-post/990759/5 "2023-09-28T00:22:58Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Objectivity in all these fields, and others, gets no argument from journalists. We accept it, even insist on it by seeking to expose transgressions. Journalists should insist on it for ourselves as well. Well, since no one else has responded… I think objectivity is an ideal more than a reality, for all of the fields listed. I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad ideal to shoot for as a journalist. The journalist Mike Pesca was recently interviewed on the excellent podcast _Clearer Thinking_ in an episode called Catastrophizing Normalcy and Normalizing Catastrophe. In it he discusses the way the aims of journalism have changed with time. Pesca was quasi-cancelled for supporting a journalist who used a racial slur while covering issues of racism (meaning he was using it descriptively not pejoratively.) There’s not much whining about what happened, just a candid account, but he talks about philosophies of journalism, how they influence the coverage of various issues, and why he thinks a more objective approach is generally better for society. That said, I think there’s a role for activist journalism. I just think it doesn’t need to be the only kind of journalism we get. And I think that’s sorta the case right now. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2023, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bezos-trump-and-the-washington-post/990759/6 "2023-09-28T00:32:49Z")
Some of the journalism we get is just instigator journalism. This is my _opinion_ about X, this is what the other guy thinks. Facts and background information optional. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2023, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bezos-trump-and-the-washington-post/990759/7 "2023-09-28T00:39:13Z")
Then, a year or so after the meeting referenced in the OP, a Washington Post reporter was brutally murdered. The murder was sanctioned by the government of Saudi Arabia and Jared Kushner may have been complicit. Annoyed by the Washington Post’s relentless coverage of this murder, Jared Kushner and his co-conspirator, the head of state of a foreign country, hacked Jeff Bezos phone and wrecked his marriage as revenge. This was the most under covered scandal of the entire Trump Administration. > **[The Bezos dick pic hacking affair just got a whole lot messier for Trump allies](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/01/trump-pecker-ami-hacking-bezos-saudi-arabia-mbs-update/)** > > It could raise tricky questions at heart of the 2016 campaign’s hush money scandal. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2023, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bezos-trump-and-the-washington-post/990759/8 "2023-09-28T18:27:07Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > Annoyed by the Washington Post’s relentless coverage of this murder, Jared Kushner and his co-conspirator, the head of state of a foreign country, hacked Jeff Bezos phone and wrecked his marriage as revenge. I do not see Kushner mentioned in your Mother Jones link. And googling: Kushner Bezos divorce I do not see any mainstream claim that Kushner is responsible for this. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bezos-trump-and-the-washington-post/990759/9 "2025-07-24T03:43:53Z")
And now Jeff is thinking of acquiring another media property: > **[Exclusive | Jeff Bezos weighing possible acquisition of CNBC cable network:...](https://nypost.com/2025/07/23/media/jeff-bezos-has-been-weighing-a-possible-acquisition-of-cnbc-sources/)** > > The possible purchase of the centrist business channel comes as Bezos has drawn scorn over his efforts to rid the Washington Post of its perceived left-wing bias.