New Delhi:
In an unusual move, Amazon founder and newspaper owner Jeff Bezos publicly defended the Washington Post’s recent decision to withdraw its endorsement of a candidate in the upcoming presidential election. claimed neutrality on its editorial page.
In an op-ed published late Monday, Bezos said in his first comments since the decision sparked backlash that withdrawing political endorsements was the right move for the Post and a step toward more independent and objective journalism. He said that.
“The president’s support does nothing to tip the scales of the election,” Bezos wrote. “No undecided voter in Pennsylvania would say, ‘I’m going to follow the endorsement of Newspaper A.’ Nothing. What the president’s endorsement actually does is create a perception of non-independence; It is a principled decision to end it.”
However, the decision was controversial and sparked a storm of opposition within the Post. Hours after the editorial was published, three editorial board members who had reportedly supported it tendered their resignations. The impact spread to the paper’s readers, with more than 200,000 subscribers canceling their subscriptions in protest.
Bezos addressed those concerns in an op-ed, acknowledging the timing was “inappropriate” but denying it was a strategic decision. “I wish the changes had been made sooner and a little further away from the election and the emotions surrounding it,” he wrote.
Reports of an alleged meeting between former President Donald Trump and executives from Bezos’ space company Blue Origin also added to the controversy. The timing of the meeting, which occurred shortly after the Post’s announcement, sparked accusations that Bezos’ decision was part of an effort to gain support from Trump ahead of the election.
But Amazon’s chief refuted that claim, insisting there was no communication between the Post and any political camp regarding the decision to withhold support. He flatly denied any political maneuvering, saying: “I also want to be clear that there is no quid pro quo at play here. Neither the campaign nor the candidate was consulted or consulted in any way at any level on this decision. Uninformed. Completely made in-house.”
Bezos said he had no prior knowledge of Trump’s meeting with Blue Origin executives, but admitted he was upset when he learned about it. “I sighed,” he wrote, “because I knew I would be providing ammunition to those who would try to frame this as anything other than a principled decision. However, I did not know about this meeting beforehand.
Mr. Bezos acknowledged that the overlapping interests between Amazon, Blue Origin and Post sometimes create a difficult “mode of conflict.” But he explained that while his vast wealth gives him significant power, it also provides a “bulwark against intimidation” that protects the Post from outside pressure.
“I don’t and never will push my personal interests, but I also won’t allow this paper to go on autopilot and become irrelevant,” Bezos said.