2 weeks Ago By John Loftus
The Washington Post is facing turmoil after refusing to endorse a presidential candidate in 2024. However, on the other side of the short-term backlash, the paper may have an opportunity to reinvent itself as a more centrist source of news. William Lewis, WaPo’s chief executive officer and publisher, said Oct.
25 that the paper would not be making a presidential endorsement for 2024 or any presidential endorsements in the future in an attempt to return to the organization’s “independent” and “nonpartisan” roots and allow readers to “make up their own minds” about major political elections. Subsequently, former WaPo executive editor Marty Baron threw a temper tantrum online , and on Monday, NPR reported that over 200,000 readers canceled their paid digital subscriptions. Scoop: Washington Post editor at large Robert Kagan confirms to me that he resigned from the Post following today’s decision not to endorse in the presidential race.
https://t.co/as86U0hYqh — Max Tani (@maxwelltani) October 25, 2024 In the wake of Lewis’s announcement, WaPo’s editor-at-large, Robert Kagan, resigned. Other activist reporters and editors within the organization may also resign.
Is that a bad thing? It might be a bad PR look in the short term, but it’s cleaning house in the long run. A statement from Post Guild leadership on the Washington Post’s decision to not endorse a presidential candidate pic.twitter.
com/fYU7hkr79K — Washington Post Guild (@PostGuild) October 25, 2024 And if more hardcore liberals cancel their subscriptions, all the better for the organization because there will be less pressure to cater to their fringe readers. Even if more cancellations lead to financial pressure, higher-ups will have the perfect excuse to lay off all the activist employees who would rather carry water for the Democratic Party than maintain a semblance of professionalism. If owner Jeff Bezos, who reportedly quashed the draft of a Kamala endorsement, and the rest of WaPo play their cards right, they may have the perfect opportunity to rebrand as centrist.
Their pitch to skeptics? Well, we’ve shed our activist subscriber base, we’ve fired the activists hiding in the newsroom and we’ve stopped all endorsements and are going to treat you like adults. (RELATED: Pro-Harris Journos Resign En Masse After Major Papers Refuse To Endorse Kamala Harris) It’s all unlikely, but it’s possible. You would have to hold a gun to my head to get me to subscribe to WaPo, but that’s just me.
I could see more centrist Americans interested in politics signing up in the wake of their latest decision to hold off on an endorsement. If WaPo hires some truly professional, old-school newsmen and lets those guys and gals cook, by the end of the decade, you could have an entirely different paper than the one that was formed in 2016 when they announced, “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” Did you enjoy this post? Consider checking out Mr.
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