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The #WashingtonPost has been rocked by a tidal wave of cancellations of digital #subscriptions & a series of #resignations from columnists, as the paper grapples w/the fallout of owner #Bezos’s decision to block an #endorsement of #KamalaHarris.
>200k people had canceled their digital subscriptions by midday Monday…. The figure represents about 8% of the paper’s paid circulation of 2.5M subscribers, which includes print as well.
#FourthEstate #democracy #journalism
https://www.npr.org/2024/10/28/nx-s1-5168416/washington-post-bezos-endorsement-president-cancellations-resignations
The number of cancellations continued to grow Monday afternoon.
A corporate spokesperson declined to comment, citing The #WashingtonPost Co.'s status as a privately held company.
“It’s a colossal number,” former Post Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli told NPR. “The problem is, people don’t know why the decision was made. We basically know the decision was made but we don’t know what led to it.”
The decision by #Bezos, the #billionaire founder of #Amazon, was first reported by NPR on Friday. In the days since, 2 columnists have resigned from the paper & 2 writers have stepped down from the #editorial board.
One of those #writers, Molly Roberts, warned of the possible consequences of the 11th-hour decision to stay quiet rather than publish the editorial endorsing #Harris. "#Trump is not yet a #dictator," she wrote in a stmnt. "But the quieter we are, the closer he comes."
The other writer is David Hoffman, who accepted a #PulitzerPrize for #editorial writing on Thurs, the day before #Bezos’ decision…. Pulitzer judges recognized him “for a compelling & well-researched series on new #technologies & the tactics #authoritarian regimes use to repress #dissent in the digital age, & how they can be fought.”
“For decades, the #WashingtonPost's editorials have been a beacon of light, signaling hope to dissidents, political prisoners & the voiceless,” Hoffman wrote in a letter Monday explaining his decision to leave the editorial board. “When victims of repression were harassed, exiled, imprisoned & murdered, we made sure the whole world knew the truth.
“I believe we face a very real threat of #autocracy in the candidacy of Donald #Trump,” Hoffman added in his letter to #Editorial Page Editor #DavidShipley, which was obtained by NPR. “I find it untenable & unconscionable that we have lost our voice."
Hoffman says he intends to remain at the paper, saying he "refuses to give up on The Post, where I have spent 42 years.
Shipley held a contentious meeting on Monday with scores of #opinion section staffers, who posed tough questions to the #editorial page chief, including appeals for #Bezos to address them.
As recently as last week, according to a person present, Shipley said he sought to talk Bezos out of his decision. Shipley added, “I failed.”
@Nonilex you know what some would do when they couldn’t talk the owner out of a calamitous choice? Quit.