# The Washington Post: Democracy Dies With Us **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [October 25, 2024, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210 "2024-10-25T17:30:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/21 "2024-10-25T19:09:50Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Unless Bezos himself is coming in to work the printers, they should publish the damn endorsement, and damn the torpedoes. Let him fire the whole staff, because at this point, they’re all neutered anyways. This. And, along with the endorsement, the fact that Bezos tried to quash it; and if they mysteriously lose their jobs, that’ll be why. They may lose them anyway, of course. But if so, I suspect they were going to in any case. – I suppose he can get it wiped from the website after the fact. But not from the print paper (I believe there’s still a print paper), and not from everybody’s screenshots. ETA: if anybody does see it show up, screenshot it quick, and alert the rest of us. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/22 "2024-10-25T19:12:17Z")
Alternatively, publish an OP-ed from each of the individual members of the editorial board about why Trump should not be allowed anywhere the White House. The message being while Washington post editorial board might not endorse Harris every member of the board does. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/23 "2024-10-25T19:13:06Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > There was way more publicity from all the coverage of WaPo not endorsing anyone than there would’ve been from the endorsement. Sure, but it’s all talking about Jeff Bezos, not some other fella. Nice job stealing the spotlight, if, indeed, that was the plan. ---
**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 25, 2024, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/24 "2024-10-25T19:13:31Z")
I was hoping his money could make it a worthy competitor to the New York Times, which has become the [800 pound gorilla of American newspapers](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/01/business/media/ben-smith-journalism-news-publishers-local.html). From that column of March 1, 2020, > The company [The New York Times] now has more digital subscribers than The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and the 250 local Gannett papers _combined_, according to the most recent data. And The Times employs 1,700 journalists — a huge number in an industry where total employment nationally has fallen to somewhere between 20,000 and 38,000. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/25 "2024-10-25T19:18:56Z")
Is the [Washington Post Guild](https://postguild.org/) still a going concern? I’d love to see them publish the endorsement. Amazon is famously hostile to unions, and I wonder how heavily that factors in Bezos’s decision. I ask if they’re still a going concern because their website looks like it hasn’t been updated in years. Edit: looks like they’re active, and have put out a statement: > ---
**Author:** ![bobsmom101](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobsmom101/32/2867_2.png) [@bobsmom101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobsmom101)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/26 "2024-10-25T19:24:22Z")
So much for the proud days of Woodward and Bernstein! I already cancelled my NYT sub when they srarted sanewashing Trump, and this morning I canelled the WaPo too. Wrote them a letter calling them cowards, which no one will ever read. At least the LA Times editor had the decency to resign. ---
**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 25, 2024, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/27 "2024-10-25T19:24:40Z")
Yeah, the time to decide to quit endorsing a candidate is after the election cycle ends, not 2 weeks before an election. Shameless asshole decisionmaker. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/28 "2024-10-25T19:24:58Z")
Cancelled my subscription to that shit rag a year ago. Fuck Jeff Bezos. I don’t buy shit from amazon anymore either. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/29 "2024-10-25T19:29:12Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > looks like they’re active, and have put out a statement: That’s on xitter. Have you found it anywhere else? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/30 "2024-10-25T19:31:44Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Have you found it anywhere else? There’s a little more info here, though a lot of it relies on the tweet. > **[Washington Post Resignations and Cancellations Begin, Guild Says Bezos Axed...](https://www.thewrap.com/washington-post-guild-cancellations-jeff-bezos-harris-endorsement/)** > > "This decision undercuts the work of our members at a time when we should be building our readers’ trust, not losing it," the group writes ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/31 "2024-10-25T19:37:46Z")
Thanks. Good to see at least one resignation over this; though the question is, where are they (and the LA Times resignees) going to go? Any of the world’s billionaires want to start a paper and then stay the hell out of it? Wonder whether they can get a letter or op ed into the paper saying why they’re resigning. ---
**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 25, 2024, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/32 "2024-10-25T19:39:52Z")
Why start a paper? Most of the established ones have been sold recently; the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, etc. Few people are willing to throw money away by endlessly supporting one. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/33 "2024-10-25T19:51:00Z")
I wonder if “Well we had a Harris endorsement, but Bezos axed it” is going to be just as good as if the Washington Post published its endorsement anyway. Certainly, this story seems to be getting a lot of traction, and might reach people who otherwise might not hear it. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/34 "2024-10-25T19:54:28Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > I wonder if “Well we had a Harris endorsement, but Bezos axed it” is going to be just as good as if the Washington Post published its endorsement anyway. Yeah, it might be better for the Harris campaign; the _Post_ endorsing her would be met with, “Of course they endorsed the Democratic nominee.” But this controversy might be enough to piss off a few people and motivate them better to support her. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/35 "2024-10-25T19:55:26Z")
> > > Max Tani @maxwelltani ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/36 "2024-10-25T19:56:03Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > WTF: How hard is it to pick the candidate that did not start an insurrection against United States democracy? Supposedly the reason is The Washington Post endorsed Clinton in 2016 and lost a $10 billion Pentagon cloud computing contract to Microsoft because Trump was mad at Bezos. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/37 "2024-10-25T20:05:56Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Supposedly the reason is The Washington Post endorsed Clinton in 2016 and lost a $10 billion Pentagon cloud computing contract to Microsoft because Trump was mad at Bezos. That makes no sense because: **[Washington Post endorses Joe Biden for president](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/09/28/editorial-board-endorsement-joe-biden/)** An incident in 2016 wouldn’t be the sole reason for them not endorsing in 2024, otherwise they wouldn’t have endorsed in 2020 either. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/38 "2024-10-25T20:08:30Z")
Dunno what to tell you except that is what is being reported. > In a 2019 lawsuit, Amazon claimed it lost a $10 billion Pentagon cloud computing contract to Microsoft because Trump used “improper pressure … “to harm his perceived political enemy” Bezos. - [SOURCE](https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/25/jeff-bezos-killed-washington-post-endorsement-of-kamala-harris-.html) ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/39 "2024-10-25T20:10:39Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Dunno what to tell you except that is what is being reported. I’m sure it’s **a factor** , but there is no way that it’s “the reason” for the change. And that is not “what is being reported”. I gave a cite earlier that it’s a concern for current and future contracts that is the motivation, not something that happened 8 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210/40 "2024-10-25T20:12:50Z")
The reason is, when it’s possible that a Putin or Erdogan will be getting into power, the oligarchs want to be on the right side. That’s the reason. Bezos doesn’t want Amazon to lose contracts, and he knows that Harris won’t work in such a corrupt and craven manner, so there’s no reason not to piss her off. ETA: I didn’t really mean to throw such red meat to you folks, this just really pissed me off. I’m actually on vacation, so, once again, I’ll be following along, but not posting much. Step away to do a hike and there are 35 responses! Crazy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-washington-post-democracy-dies-with-us/1009210.md?page=3)