# Have you canceled your Amazon Prime or Washington Post subscription? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 27, 2024, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-canceled-your-amazon-prime-or-washington-post-subscription/1009307 "2024-10-27T19:59:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2024, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-canceled-your-amazon-prime-or-washington-post-subscription/1009307/103 "2024-10-30T01:30:11Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > The role of the journalist in society isn’t to be impartial, it’s to tell the truth. To “tell the truth” is not sufficient, nor does it properly narrow down what a journalist needs to do. Why do people fear flying out of proportion to the danger? Probably because every major aviation accident makes the news, often with grim statistics about hundreds dead. Maybe with pictures of fireballs or worse. In some cases the coverage goes on for weeks if there is some mystery about it. Meanwhile, the 40,000 automobile deaths per year (in the US alone) are largely unreported. The media reports the “truth” but people are deceived anyway. And that was a non-partisan example. It only gets worse when there is some inherent bias to the underlying story. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2024, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-canceled-your-amazon-prime-or-washington-post-subscription/1009307/104 "2024-10-30T01:33:57Z")
> [@robby](#): > > Huh, I had no idea. The best rate I see right now is $40 for the first year, and $120 for every year thereafter. You have to call and ask for it each year. [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/54Pppy8.jpeg "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/54Pppy8) ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2024, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-canceled-your-amazon-prime-or-washington-post-subscription/1009307/105 "2024-10-30T01:36:50Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > You have to call and ask for it each year. Do you call before it renews every year? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2024, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-canceled-your-amazon-prime-or-washington-post-subscription/1009307/106 "2024-10-30T01:46:00Z")
> [@robby](#): > > Do you call before it renews every year? - Let’s see… for the first couple years, they offered me the same $29 price I’d been getting. After that, I got notifications that it’d renew at a higher price. I call and say that I can’t do it because it’s too much. Then they start offering a lower price. I hold out until it’s $29 again. It’s like lowering your cable bill by threatening to cancel. They have the rate available; they just don’t always offer it up right away. FYI, the New York Times is the same way. I have an all-access digital subscription, including recipes, for $24. I have to call and ask for it every year, and they seem happy to do it. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2024, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-canceled-your-amazon-prime-or-washington-post-subscription/1009307/107 "2024-10-30T01:48:32Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > That’s not journalism, it’s stenography. The role of the journalist in society isn’t to be impartial, it’s to tell the truth. _The job of the newspaper is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable._ Finley Peter Dunne Not having a WaPo subscription I cancelled my Prime instead. Does that meet your approval, @Dr.Strangelove ? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2024, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-canceled-your-amazon-prime-or-washington-post-subscription/1009307/108 "2024-10-30T01:52:13Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > FYI, the New York Times is the same way. I have an all-access digital subscription, including recipes, for $24. I have to call and ask for it every year, and they seem happy to do it. Are you paying $24 for the NYT per month or per year? ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2024, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-canceled-your-amazon-prime-or-washington-post-subscription/1009307/109 "2024-10-30T01:54:25Z")
Prime is far from the only way to buy those things and have them delivered. Or even to get them delivered for free. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2024, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-canceled-your-amazon-prime-or-washington-post-subscription/1009307/110 "2024-10-30T01:57:49Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Does that meet your approval, @Dr.Strangelove ? Dunno why anyone should be polling _me_ for this. Although I did laugh when Stephen King said he was cancelling his WaPo sub and got a few responses to the effect of “so you’re pulling all your book sales from Amazon now, right?”. Everyone’s principles have a limit, I guess. If people want to cancel their subs, more power to them. And in fact my argument isn’t even about whether Bezos is actually acting in a principled manner or not. Just that, taken at face value, his editorial is absolutely correct IMO. There is a serious media credibility problem, and to solve it it’s not enough to simply be right on all stories. You have to be believable at the same time. Endorsements damage that credibility even when they’re “right”. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2024, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-canceled-your-amazon-prime-or-washington-post-subscription/1009307/111 "2024-10-30T02:17:29Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Are you paying $24 for the NYT per month or per year? - Per year. For at least 2 years now, maybe 3. At one this year (February?), I noticed they were billing me more than that (they bill monthly), so I called and they fixed it and credited me the difference. Just checked - it’s $2.04 per month. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2024, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-canceled-your-amazon-prime-or-washington-post-subscription/1009307/112 "2024-10-30T02:27:22Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Per year. For at least 2 years now, maybe 3. At one this year (February?), I noticed they were billing me more than that (they bill monthly), so I called and they fixed it and credited me the difference. > > Just checked - it’s $2.04 per month. Hmmm - is that all-access, like it includes The Athletic, Wirecutter, the puzzles? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2024, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-canceled-your-amazon-prime-or-washington-post-subscription/1009307/113 "2024-10-30T02:36:59Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Hmmm - is that all-access, like it includes The Athletic, Wirecutter, the puzzles? - Yes, it’s all-access. News, Games, Cooking, Audio, Wirecutter, Athletic, gift links, and 15% off select items in the NYT Store, whatever the heck that entails. Everything except home delivery. [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/1MPmY3m.jpeg "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/1MPmY3m) ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2024, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-canceled-your-amazon-prime-or-washington-post-subscription/1009307/114 "2024-10-30T04:51:27Z")
Well, heck. I may have to give them a call. ---
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2024, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-canceled-your-amazon-prime-or-washington-post-subscription/1009307/115 "2024-10-30T07:26:33Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > But knowing that a newspaper makes an endorsement _at all_ damages their credibility for years. Everyone knows that the WaPo is a liberal rag, and so independents and conservatives don’t trust it. Therefore they discount _anything_ they publish, whether accurate or not. Which US newspapers have adopted a policy of non-endorsement that has won them the trust of independents and conservatives? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2024, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-canceled-your-amazon-prime-or-washington-post-subscription/1009307/116 "2024-10-30T09:54:34Z")
That’s hardly the _only_ step that’s necessary. Nor did I say one should expect to win over conservatives (the further out ones, at least). The _Wall Street Journal_ hasn’t endorsed anyone for nearly a century. They’re only a little to the right of center and generally fairly balanced, though there are exceptions in both directions. Closer to the center than the WaPo, at any rate. I expect they’re relatively well respected by independents. Bloomberg is a tiny bit left of center and also doesn’t seem to have endorsed anyone. They also don’t ping my “liberal rag” meter. _The Economist_ usually _does_ do endorsements, but hasn’t in 2024. Sorta curious that that hasn’t gotten any news traction. Maybe people don’t care since they’re British, but they’re pretty widely read. Anyway, the WaPo will have to do a lot more than withhold endorsements if Bezos wants to shift the WaPo from being well on the left to something more neutral. Perhaps it’ll help that a bunch of their more extreme journalists resigned, conveniently filtering them out without even having to pay them severance pay… ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2024, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-canceled-your-amazon-prime-or-washington-post-subscription/1009307/117 "2024-10-30T11:07:49Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > The _Wall Street Journal_ hasn’t endorsed anyone for nearly a century. They’re only a little to the right of center and generally fairly balanced The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page is pretty far right of center. Their news is generally fairly balanced, but their editorial page is not at all “balanced”. Similarly, WaPo has a left wing editorial page, but has let balanced news. Despite sanewashing Trump, the New York Times has much more left-leaning journalism. I dropped it because i got annoyed at how biased their news coverage was. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2024, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-canceled-your-amazon-prime-or-washington-post-subscription/1009307/118 "2024-10-30T11:24:41Z")
Apart from not endorsing my favored candidate, which I prefer but to not expect a newspaper to do, I like WaPo’s coverage and do not expect it to change. So I’m not dropping it. Additionally I would note that this is all on Bezos, that his laughably transparent response has changed the narrative to “Billionaire newspaper owner admits forcing his journalistic narrative over objections of editorial staff”. It’s gained enough Streisand-effect backlash to blast the story into the stratosphere. So no, I’m not canceling my WaPo subscription. I like them and I think they’ll continue to earn my support. I don’t blame them for what Bezos did, and I don’t much care about it because it’s backfired so tremendously. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2024, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-canceled-your-amazon-prime-or-washington-post-subscription/1009307/119 "2024-10-30T12:01:03Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Just that, taken at face value, his editorial is absolutely correct IMO. There is a serious media credibility problem, and to solve it it’s not enough to simply be right on all stories. You have to be believable at the same time. Endorsements damage that credibility even when they’re “right”. I’m reposting this from [this thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/289) because it is the same response to this stupid argument: > [@The Washington Post: Democracy Dies With Us](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/289): > > Getting back to the topic at hand, the notion that the editorial board of the _Washington Post_ endorsing Kamala Harris is creating the perception of ‘liberal bias’ in their hard news reporting that is pushing away conservative news consumers is so obtuse it is hard to begin describing how wrong that is. Setting aside the fact that the _Washington Post_ gives editorial column inches to not only conservative (if anti-Trump) commentator George Will but also to Trump flag bearers Marc A. Thiessen and Hugh Hewitt would seem to obviate the basis of that claim. The reality is that most conservatives (and all Trump advocates) aren’t seeking non-biased news sources; instead, they are embracing those with very evident biases in the direction that supports their views like Fox News, OANN, Newsmax, et cetera, which are perfectly happy to not only endorse Trump but spread obvious propaganda and easily fact-checked lies for him at every opportunity. > > Even if the _Washington Post_ hadn’t established the precedent of regularly endorsed a candidate for the presidency for the last four decades one can argue that they should do so now because while you might argue that they shouldn’t have a bias for a particular political viewpoint, they should have a bias for _fact_ and _integrity_ (as well as, I would argue, for maintaining and strengthening democratic institutions which includes a free press performing investigative journalism and publishing editorial criticism), and in this case there is a clear distinction in this regard between one candidate who is essentially honest and has a long history in service of democratic institutions, and the other who not only lies so reflexively that he can’t even keep them straight or coherent and has a long record of corruption but actively incited insurrection and tried to interfere with fair election processes, and who by he way has expressed naked ambition to be a dictator. For the publisher and owner of the _Washington Post_ to ignore the paper’s editorial board intent to endorse Harris is not only an unconscionable and unethical act but it is also an abrogation of the one principle that a newspaper or medial outlet should fundamentally stand for; informing the public about an imminent danger to civil society and democratic freedom. Bezos is a fucking coward who is also undermining the essential purpose of a news outlet, and if he doesn’t want the personaly liability of letting the editorial board express their collective business then he shouldn’t be in the business of owning a newspaper. Unless, of course, he just wants to turn it into a promotional outlet for his main business interests which also occasionally publish pictures of him looking like a freaky mannequin in a flight suit and cowboy hat. But [CNN.com](http://CNN.com) already does that so readily I don’t know why he’d even bother losing money on a side hustle with a long history of needling political figures at all ends of the spectrum. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2024, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-canceled-your-amazon-prime-or-washington-post-subscription/1009307/120 "2024-10-30T12:04:53Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > If Trump wins, he needs to turn the paper non-profit, give it a nice endowment, and walk away. Otherwise Trump will continually pressure Bezos to move the Post rightward. If Trump wins he will continually pressure ALL media to move rightward/worship him or else attempt to destroy said media. It doesn’t matter if it is for-profit or non-profit. > [@Smapti](#): > > It’s craven cowardice at best and preemptively kissing Der Fuhrer’s ring at worst. The world is full of cowards, in fact, they’re probably the majority. And kissing Der Fuhrer’s ring is one of the ways you survive the Reich. I don’t have to approve of someone’s motivations to understand them. As for the OP - I haven’t had a WaPo subscription for years because I have limited funds and can’t subscribe to everything and I’ve opted for other sources for my own reasons. I’m not giving up Amazon Prime because it’s useful to me and doing so would have about zero effect on Bezos or politics. Doing that would be cutting my nose off to spite my face. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2024, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-canceled-your-amazon-prime-or-washington-post-subscription/1009307/121 "2024-10-30T12:38:04Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Nevertheless, one of the reasons the media enjoys so little credibility is because of their obvious partisan bias. There is no such thing as an unbiased media organ, and the ones with the highest credibility are transparent about their biases. That’s what a newspaper does when it endorses a candidate and explains why they did it. The absolute worst, most trash media on the market are the ones that loudly proclaim that they have _no_ bias, which is always and only a cover for a bias-laundering operation to make right-wing positions agreeable to “independents”. These people have a childlike media literacy that begins and ends with rooting out “bias”, and having found it, their brains shut off and process no further information. This makes them easy targets right-wing media who claim to be unbiased. Their strategy is to make left-leaning bias the overwhelming focus of their coverage, gradually grooming their audience to be hawks for left-wing bias while being oblivious to right-wing bias. This is what enables those organs to get away with their own outrageous lies and half-truths and claim to be “unbiased”. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2024, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-canceled-your-amazon-prime-or-washington-post-subscription/1009307/122 "2024-10-30T14:39:28Z")
Another way to restore trust in our vaunted democratic institutions is to resist the all-out right-wing assault _on_ each and every one _of_ those democratic institutions. Capitulating? Appeasement? Not _my_ preference. YMMV, of course. [Not a WaPo subscriber. As a disabled person, I grudgingly rely on Amazon for quite a bit] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-canceled-your-amazon-prime-or-washington-post-subscription/1009307.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-canceled-your-amazon-prime-or-washington-post-subscription/1009307.md?page=7)