We canceled our subscription today, too. I sent a message through the letter to the editor page to make it clear why, since the cancelation page doesn’t give you the option of sending a note, only checking a box on a multiple choice list.
Our subscription goes through September, unlike NYT which was up for renewal. We’ll be writing to WP to express our displeasure and will stop reading/clicking. Trying to decide what to do about Amazon.
Yeah, that’s how I had to do it too.
It might be a reasonable position, had the decision not been made unilaterally by the owner with no discussion 11 days before the election. And it’s hypocritical, as the Post has already endorsed other candidates in this election such as Angela Alsobrooks in the Maryland Senate race.
This is not at all a stand on principle, but a cowardly cave by a billionaire who has significant business before the federal government. And it’s win-win from Bezos’ perspective, as he knows full well that while a President Trump would go nuclear on him, a President Harris would NOT corruptly steer federal contracts away from Amazon over an endorsement (or lack thereof).
Bezos and publisher William Lewis have deeply alienated the Post’s staff and readership and (further) tarnished its reputation.
Even from a purely cynical and transactional viewpoint, what was the upside of this move? By withholding an endorsement, do they really think they’ll get better treatment from Trump? I can’t imagine they will.
I understand why many here are nearly apoplectic about this decision, but it may help to understand who enthusiastically supports it:
“I’m Neville Chamberlain and I approved this message!”
“I’m Joseph Kennedy. I just want to take this opportunity to say to my fellow Americans that I wholeheartedly support the LA Times and Washington Post in their efforts to remain neutral at this critical juncture in our world’s history.”
/s
First they came…
Also … according to a quick Google, Bezos’s stake in AMZN shares is currently worth roughly $176,000,000,000.00 – 176 Billion.
I think each of these men has a lot to gain or lose, depending on whether they’re in or out with Trump.
But collectively … these craven billionaire men could squash Trump like a fucking bug.
I wanna’ party with you, Cowboy.
When we roll out the guillotines I just hope we can find a basket big enough to accommodate Musk’s and Bezos’s enormous heads.
Well, I went ahead and canceled my Post subscription after being a subscriber for decades. I started subscribing when I was a wet-behind-the-ears youngster first launching into adulthood in DC and have maintained it as life took me other places. I have fond memories of knowing just how to fold the paper so that you could read an article while holding it one handed standing on the Metro. I enjoyed the regional coverage and the particular insight that proximity brought to coverage of Congress and Administrations.
But this is it for me. I don’t have any delusions that this will change anything, even if it’s part of a mass cancelation – the Washington Post is a rounding error in Bezos’ portfolio. But if the owner is ready to intervene in the paper’s output so drastically to protect his own financial interests, how can I trust anything that they put out? I’m sure that the Post’s leadership would say that there’s a distinction between the editorial page and the newsroom, but why should I believe that? Who knows what kind of coverage is being quietly killed or shaped because it doesn’t align with Bezos’ interests?
I’m not sure where I’ll turn for my regular news. I hate that so much “journalism” now comes from explicitly partisan outlets. As much as I may align with them philosophically, I dislike sites like Daily Kos and Vox because they’re all about telling me what I’m predisposed to hear. It’s all “nod along” coverage. Not my cup of tea.
I can easily live without my Post sub but shedding the Amazon monkey on my back is neigh on impossible.
It’s a horse apiece to me.
Okay, we just switched to Ground News using a link from Randy Rainbow.
Yeah, that’s what happened last time I renewed. The couple of times before that they did cancel it, then after it had ended repeatedly sent me offers of various sorts until, after a month or so, they finally hit one cheap enough that I re-upped.
It won’t run out till next spring, and they’re only getting 99¢ a month from me. I’m going to let it ride at least through the election, and also to see what all the repurcussions of this decision are; but will probably cancel it either after that, or else next spring when the renewal comes up will cancel and stay canceled. They at least used to ask why you were cancelling, and I always said (honestly) I couldn’t afford the full rate; but if they ask this time around, unless they’ve fixed this mess I’ll give it as an additional reason.
Thanks. Maybe I can find somebody to switch to. Or maybe I’ll just settle for NPR and the Dope.
Exactly.
Thanks – will bear recommendation in mind.
Yeah, the point I was trying to make (badly) was that while the NY Post has awful principles, at least they are willing lay out their reasoning for their readers.
I was delighted to find out this morning that the Christmas gifts I was considering for the grandkids are available on eBay for the same price Amazon Prime is quoting me. I’m close to cancelling my Prime subscription; haven’t yet because I get Prime Video too.
You’re welcome though I don’t recommend selecting a news source based only on whether you agree with their endorsement choice.
No, of course not. It would be one among a number of factors.
I don’t want an unreliable or deliberately misleading source no matter who they endorsed. (I don’t even know if NPR has endorsed anybody, come to think of it.)
Okay, after discussion, cancelled the Post.
Anyone link the political cartoon yet?
Yow!
Thanks for the link.
Should be a gift link, but in case that just leads to a demand for info without giving which people can’t read it, that’s to an editorial by Ruth Marcus, on the Post’s editorial staff, objecting vehemently and at length to the decision; criticizing Trump in great detail; – and pointing out that the Post is printing the editorial.
A selected bit:
If The Post had announced after this election that it would stop endorsing presidential candidates, I might have disagreed with that decision, but I would not consider it out of bounds. The practice of endorsements comes with some costs. The newsroom and the Opinions section maintain rigorous separation, but it is difficult to make that case to an official aggrieved by the failure to secure an endorsement.
This is not the time to make such a shift. It is the time to speak out, as loudly and convincingly as possible, to make the case that we made in 2016 and again in 2020: that Trump is dangerously unfit to hold the highest office in the land.
I cancelled mine, but if anyone else still feels their subscription is too valuable to cancel, go to your account and start the cancellation process.
They’ll give you a half price offer in order to retain you. That way, you can keep your subscription and still hit them in the wallet a little bit….plus you’ll save money.