Considering how much of this controversy has played out in the pages/webpages of the Post itself, I’m not terribly worried that we can’t trust the Post because Bezos has an iron grip on what is and isn’t published there.
It all starts somewhere.
I cancelled Amazon Prime quite a few years ago because I didn’t like what kind of monopolistic behemoth it was obviously becoming. I find Ebay and Etsy to be useful substitutes for many random things.
I have a WaPo subscription that I don’t pay for (I piggyback on my BIL’s subscription). I guess if he cancels, I won’t subscribe anymore.
I agree he’s being a shitty employer. And he’s engaged in using power to threaten the press into compliance. I think that’s what most people mean by “bullying.”
He’s not as bad as Musk. And that’s like saying he’s not as bad as Trump. Musk is far outside the norm. Comparison with the worst can make the bad seem better.
And while I agree this will have less impact than before, I also note that the election is closer than it should be.
I have never subscribed to a newspaper and have not read the Washington Post since my family moved from northern Virginia to Pennsylvania. At this point I am going to get slightly religious, citing a principle taught in Jewish law that I deeply believe in. The Talmud says quite plainly that if you see somebody performing an evil act and you can safely stop them but you choose not to, then you are just as guilty as they are. I consider it the moral duty of every American to stop Trump.I think most would agree that those who vote for Trump bear responibility for whatever evil he does in his second term. I would take it further, those who choose to remain silent, those who choose not to vote, those who choose to take no action are equally guilty.
The Washington Post and the New York Times have an obligation to report facts fairly and objectively. As respected public voices, I would argue they have a moral duty to identify and oppose evil in their editorials and their political endorsements. To remain silent is to allow evil and to be guilty of evil.
I do not have an Amazon Prime subscription. Indeed, I rarely use Amaazon at all. OTTOMH, I have ordered items from Amazon or had a friend with Amazon Prime order an item for me less than a dozen times my whole life. I refuse to eat food from Chick Fil A. I refuse to shop at Hobby Lobby. If I learn that any one I know is eating Chick Fil A or shopping at Hobby Lobby, I inform them of both companies homophobic policies. I am only one person. I will fight evil to the best of my ability. That includes boycotts and telling anybody who will listen what company I am boycotting and why.
Same situation, subscribed through next fall. Already cancelled NYT. We’ll reassess in the future. Amazon is harder for various reasons, including whether it sends the same message as cancelling the WP (which I’ve read off and on since around 1972).
No. Nor will I.
I would prefer that the paper support Harris, but it isn’t going to make much difference and the owners are not obliged to do so officially. Educated people are already more likely to read the Post and vote for the better candidate.
I can see celebrity endorsements making a small difference for a few people who don’t really follow politics. You gonna stop listening to music or films you like because the stars don’t share your politics? Maybe a GOP comedian was unwise to mock Puerto Rico and anger Bad Bunny, especially if 500,000 puertorriqueños live in Philadelphia and many in Florida. But how will your vote change knowing that the Juggalos support Harris?
You say that like it’s a fact. Maybe a small difference is all it takes.
I find it hard to believe papers have any effect at this point.
They’re functionally extinct sadly. No one on either side of the political spectrum have any faith in them. Their demographics are old, generally 65+.
Hey! Would you accept 63+?
Not that I have any particular reason for asking.
For unrelated reasons (shipping issues), I cancelled prime a few months ago. I made it exactly one day before re-subscribing. I was ordering something that I could have had that day or the next day (don’t remember) with prime, but was going to be several days or I’d have to pay for shipping without it.
I justified it by reminding myself that without Amazon Prime I wouldn’t get 5% back on all my Amazon purchases (with an Amazon credit card) and I easily recover the annual fee with that. Just quickly glancing at my Chase account. Over the last 12 months, I’ve made almost $400 in rewards, just from Amazon purchases.
I agree.
The problem is that the paper was purchased by an oligarch who has business interests that swamp his investment (if you want to call it that) in the WaPo. Those other interests can be harmed by good aggressive WaPo journalism.
The first symptom I recall, of negative oligarch influence at WaPo, was in November 2023, when Bezos made William Lewis, previously editor of the leading Tory broadsheet, The Telegraph, the CEO.
The next symptom was when executive editor Sally Buzbee was forced out in June.
Refusal to endorse a presidential candidate is the latest symptom.
I feel that if I canceled at this point, I would be doing a bit of Trump’s work – destroying what he thinks of as the enemy of the people – for him. For the same reason, I do NOT want to see more WaPo journalists resigning over this. Instead they should resist the new order from within, as I believe they mostly are.
“As of 2023, the Post has 135,980 print subscribers and 2.5 million digital subscribers”. That’s a fair amount.
I cancelled my WaPo subscription today. Newspaper owners have leaned on editors since newspapers began, that’s not the issue for me. The issue is specifically that Bezos caved to Trump. Hoping that if president, Trump won’t focus on destroying his real businesses – WaPo is a sort of hobby to him, but of course Trump hates it, along with every other newspaper except those who lick his boots. A vain hope, probably, as Trump never forgets a slight, and lives to wreak vengeance.
I would cancel Amazon Prime if I had it. I try very hard not to buy anything on Amazon, mostly succeeding. But my husband loves it and uses it constantly; giving up Prime is something he won’t consider.
I’d cancelled WaPo a few months ago but I tweeted it out recently with receipts.
Me, too, but that wouldn’t affect me cancelling. I cancelled because 11 days before a major election, he decided that the paper was no longer running endorsements. This is symbolic, and it means something to people, and is used as evidence of something.
I cancelled a couple of days ago. It won’t really affect Bezos, but I’m so disgusted with them that I just don’t want to send them money anymore.
Maybe I would feel stronger about this if I was American. But it doesn’t shock me or even surprise me all that much. Journalism always talks about ethics, but I guess money talks louder.
^This
Just becasue a business chooses not to piss off half of its customers by staying neurtal is to be expected. They are a business for fucks sake. Now any business that openly endorses Trump is off my approved list of vendors, such as X, Fox or MyPillow.
I never had The Washington Post and I cancelled Prime when they upped the price and/or added commercials.
I was giving some thought to renewing prime since I think I’ve watched everything on Netflix and paused them for awhile, but I’m getting desperate for something. I may have to try Apple.