The Washington Post has announced it will not endorse a presidential candidate in the upcoming election, provoking a backlash among some of its employees and subscribers.
CEO William Lewis said the decision was a return “to our roots of not endorsing presidential candidates” and that the newspaper was ending the practice going forward.
The move breaks with decades of tradition, with the paper having endorsed a candidate in most presidential elections since the 1970s – all of whom have been Democrats.
The Washington Post Guild’s leadership – which represents workers at the paper – said it was “deeply concerned” by the decision.
It added that it was already seeing subscription cancellations from “loyal members”.
In its own news article on the decision, The Washington Post reported – citing two sources briefed on the sequence of events who were not authorised to speak publicly – that editorial page staffers had drafted an endorsement of Harris that was not published.
Citing the same sources, it added that the decision not to publish the endorsement was made by the paper’s owner, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
In a column published on The Post’s website, Mr Lewis said: “We recognise that this will be read in a range of ways, including as a tacit endorsement of one candidate, or as a condemnation of another, or as an abdication of responsibility. That is inevitable.
“We don’t see it that way. We see it as consistent with the values The Post has always stood for and what we hope for in a leader.”
He added that it was also “a statement in support of our readers’ ability to make up their own minds” on who to elect president.
Marty Baron, former executive editor of The Post, described the decision as “cowardice, with democracy as its casualty”.
“Disturbing spinelessness at an institution famed for courage,” he added.
The Washington Post Guild’s leadership criticised the move: “The message from our chief executive, Will Lewis – not from the Editorial Board itself – makes us concerned that management interfered with the work of our members in Editorial.”
The statement went on: “We are already seeing cancellations from once loyal readers. This decision undercuts the work of our of members at a time when we should be building our readers’ trust, not losing it.”
The Washington Post’s own news report on the decision has attracted hundreds of comments since the announcement, with many subscribers saying they had cancelled their subscription to the paper.
“Appalling. Cancelling my subscription immediately,” wrote one user.
Another said: “I’m 79 and was raised on the Post, took a subscription to college in Massachusetts, and am reading it now in retirement in Chicago. But this is no longer a responsible newspaper.”
Referring to the paper’s official slogan, the reader continued: “Democracy dies in darkness, indeed. WaPo is dark.”
The move by The Post followed a similar announcement from the Los Angeles Times last week, which said it was not endorsing a presidential candidate this year.
The editorials editor at the LA Times stepped down after the company’s decision.
“I am resigning because I want to make it clear that I am not OK with us being silent,” Mariel Garza told the Columbia Journalism Review. “In dangerous times, honest people need to stand up. This is how I’m standing up.”
According to Ms Garza, the LA Times had planned to endorse Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, but the plan was blocked by the paper’s owner, billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong.
Following Ms Garza’s resignation, Mr Soon-Shiong pushed back on that assertion, writing in a social media post that he had “provided the opportunity” for the paper’s editorial board “to draft a factual analysis of all the POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE policies by EACH candidate during their tenures at the White House, and how these policies affected the nation”.
He said the board “chose to remain silent” instead of following his suggestion, which he said he accepted.
In contrast to The Washington Post and the LA Times, The New York Times endorsed Harris in September, describing her as “the only patriotic choice for president”.
Republican candidate Donald Trump received an endorsement from The New York Post on Friday – the tabloid owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
“America is ready for today’s heroic Donald Trump to reclaim the presidency,” an opinion piece in the paper read.