As someone who used to write regularly for the newspaper, I haven't had a chance to say this in a long time, but… . Bravo, Washington Post.

This week, the Post announced that it would not be endorsing a candidate not only this year but also in the future. More than two decades ago, I wrote a column calling on newspapers to end the practice of all pro-choice advocacy. (Yes, before everything seemed to depend on what you thought about Donald Trump). I have continued to urge the press to abandon this harmful practice.

When I first spoke out against political support, the media had not yet made the leap into advocacy journalism that is now strangling the industry.

WASHINGTON POST UNION, EMPLOYEES REVOLVE DECISION NOT TO SUPPORT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, DEBT BEZOS

Nikole Hannah-Jones, a former New York Times writer (and now professor of journalism at Howard University), has declared, “All journalism is activism.”

After a series of interviews with over 75 media leaders, Leonard Downie Jr., former editor-in-chief of the Washington Post, and Andrew Heyward, former president of CBS News, reiterated this shift. As Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, editor-in-chief of the San Francisco Chronicle, explained, “Objectivity must go.”

Billionaire Jeff Bezos bought The Washington Post in 2013.

The result has been that trust in the media has fallen to an all-time low. Sales and readership are falling as branches fight for survival. Yet reporters still refuse to reconsider abandoning neutrality and objectivity.

Recently, Post owner Jeff Bezos brought in Washington Post publisher and CEO William Lewis, who promptly dropped a truth bomb in the middle of the newsroom. He told employees: “Let's not sugarcoat it… We are losing large amounts of money. Their audience has halved in recent years. People don't read your stuff. Correct? I can’t sugarcoat it anymore.”

The reaction was to demand that Lewis and other editors be fired. These reporters would rather give up their real job than give up their bias.

Now Lewis is under fire again after declaring, “We're going back to our roots of opposing presidential candidates.”

The Washington Post Guild immediately went into uproar at the idea of ​​not openly supporting Kamala Harris, although many would point out that the Post was hardly subtle in its reporting on the point.

La Times editor resigns because newspaper does not endorse HARRIS for president: 'It's not okay if we remain silent'

The guild said it was concerned about the idea of ​​leaving readers to draw their own conclusions “just 11 days before a hugely consequential election.” According to staff, the Post needs to “guide readers” and “according to our own reporters and Guild members, a recommendation for Harris has already been developed and the decision not to publish it was made by the Post's owner, Jeff Bezos.”

Forget the idea that the Post would start free-range readers to draw their own conclusions.

The Post and other newspapers write for each other and for core Democratic readers. The rest of America is turning to new sources of information on social media and elsewhere.

Former editor-in-chief Martin “Marty” Baron and others were completely disappointed. Baron explained: “This is cowardice, of which democracy is the victim.”

Others retreated into anonymity to denounce their management, with some advocating precisely against making such a recommendation: “False equivalences are being drawn in a very disingenuous way. This isn't Kamala Harris vs. Mitt Romney, for example. This is Kamala Harris versus someone who tried to disenfranchise the electorate last time.”

This is ironic since Romney was portrayed as a fascist at the time, as were previous Republican candidates.

One of the strangest answers came from Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders: “That’s what oligarchy is all about. Jeff Bezos, the second richest person in the world and owner of the Washington Post, is defying his editorial team and refusing to support Kamala.” “

The New York Post editorial board endorsed Donald Trump for president on October 25, 2024. (New York Post)

An oligarchy is defined as a “government of the few.” This is exactly what the public sees in effective state media and why “Let's Go Brandon!” has become a kind of “Yankee Doodling” by the political and media establishment.

Sanders' objection is that the owner has decided not to exercise the power of a few, but instead to leave the choice to the voters. According to Sanders, this is the definition of an oligarchy that refuses to act as an oligarch.

As discussed years ago, newspapers' decisions to engage in politics have had a corrosive influence for years. It destroys the separation between newspapers and those who are supposed to be the subjects of their investigative and journalistic work.

In my previous column, I called for an end to more than just presidential support, although that's a good start. There should be a commitment to complete neutrality in all elections, from judge to senator to president.

The Washington Post is not alone. The Los Angeles Times refused to make an endorsement, which also led to a staff revolt.

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The decision to vote no in this election could be a pivotal moment for mainstream media to usher in the era of advocacy journalism. Although I am skeptical, I sincerely hope that Bezos has decided to reconsider the course of the post. We need the Post and the rest of the mainstream media. The media plays a critical role in our democracy as a neutral source of information about government abuse and corruption.

However, this role also requires the trust of the public. Otherwise, as Lewis told Post employees, “nobody reads your stuff.”

This is evident from the shortness of this election. After years of relentless anti-Trump coverage and a multibillion-dollar war chest to sell Harris to the public, the country is still split down the middle.

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The Post and other newspapers write for each other and for core Democratic readers. The rest of America is turning to new sources of information on social media and elsewhere.

For those of us who loved the old post and want our Fourth Estate to be strong, this is a meaningful start.

So bravo, Washington Post.

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