Bezos defends waiving Washington Post election recommendation

The Amazon founder and owner of the Washington Post justifies this measure due to the American public's low confidence in the media.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, in his capacity as owner of the Washington Post, defended the decision of the famous American newspaper not to recommend holding elections in the final stage of the race to reach the White House. The billionaire justified this controversial move in an opinion article primarily by the American public's decline in trust in the media. NPR had previously reported that more than 200,000 readers of the traditional newspaper canceled their subscriptions after the decision.

Bezos stressed that he does not seek any personal interests at The Washington Post. The fact is that many people consider the media to be biased. “And those who fight with reality lose.” He won't let The Post wallow in triviality and instead let people inform themselves through poorly researched podcasts and social media posts. In any case, electoral recommendations issued by the media will not convince anyone to vote for a particular candidate. He admitted that the controversial decision was taken in the final stage of the election campaign due to “poor planning.”

Maintain procedures for future elections

The Washington Post announced on Friday that it will not recommend Democratic candidate Kamala Harris or her Republican rival, Donald Trump, before the presidential elections scheduled for November 5. This will also be avoided in the next elections. Reporters from the newspaper later reported that a recommendation about Harris had already been written, but Bezos decided not to publish it. The Washington Post Journalists' Defense Group expressed concern that the administration appeared to have interfered in editorial matters.

>>> Text by Jeff Bezos

Although Bezos no longer runs Amazon himself, his assets largely consist of shares in the world's largest online retailer. He also owns the space company Blue Origin, which relies on government contracts. The Trump administration could make life difficult for his companies. Therefore, Bezos was accused of ordering the electoral recommendation not to be given for fear of financial losses. The fact that Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp met with Trump in Florida just hours after the decision was announced added fuel to the criticism. Bezos has now written that he did not know about it beforehand.

The Amazon founder bought the Washington Post – which exposed the Watergate scandal in the 1970s and thus led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon – in 2013. In the subsequent presidential elections of 2016 and 2020, the newspaper endorsed Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden. (APA/DPA)