Last night, I read the hundreds of letters to the editor of the Washington Post about Bezos’ decision not to endorse. By now, there are probably thousands. Almost all of them said: I have canceled my subscription.”
Good for them.
I am NOT canceling my subscription.
I enjoy reading Dana Milbank, Jennifer Rubin, Eugene Robinson, Alexander Petri, and other columnists.
I applaud them for dissenting from Bezos’ mandate.
They will vent their rage for the next 10 days. At Bezos and especially at Trump.
And of course there will continue to be hard-hitting investigations.
I want to read what they write.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Balancing responses can be challenging. I am much more reactionary now, which surprises me. Since Trump I am angrier and quick to judge. Grappling with the decline seems self-defeating, like grabbing water. But still, I shout out the window, so to speak: “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore” (from the film “Network”).
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Agree. tRump seems to bring out the worst in me. I have never felt so angry about politics and my fellow Americans in my life. Which is how I think tRump has affected his followers, they are angry and hating all of US.
I did not cancel my WaPo subscription either, but I did cancel LATimes (after 42 years). They have columnists I love and will miss but I sure won’t miss the coverage of the Dodgers and Lakers, lol!
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Thank goodness we still have freedom of speech for you to make a different choice. That might end based on Bezos’ fervent desire to protect his bottom line over democracy. I assure you the authors you want to read will get snatched up by more democratic owners or substack. There’s still more than one way to skin an oligarch.
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I think that Bezos hurt his bottom line and his reputation y not allowing the editorial board its freedom to speak.
The Post has been losing money for years. If it loses some more, he can afford it. Amazon is his cash cow.
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as angry as I am at Bezos for this decision I would rather see him continue to own the WaPo rather than sell it to the Sinclair family, who have gutted my hometown paper, the Baltimore Sun, or Alden, which is also slashing newsroom staffs.
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If I were Bezos, or even Elon Musk, I have to know that Donald Trump has no love for me. Trump’s only desire is to be the top dog – or at least perpetuate the image of being so. If he were to return to office, if he has any functional brain cells, my guess is that he would do whatever it takes to take all the other billionaires down to a level below himself. Perhaps they should be careful of what they wish for. It seems Bezos is in a lose-lose situation concerning Trump, so why not do the right thing and let his newspaper endorse Harris/Walz?
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Diane: I doubt THAT is over yet at the Post or elsewhere. And if Bezos were dependent on the income from the Post, cancelling might make a difference TO HIM.
But don’t you love it how the oligarchs among us use the privileges afforded by them by living in a democratic country and culture to make themselves wealthy . . . and then turn around and use their wealth to shield themselves from the social, moral, political, and spiritual fallout that otherwise would come from their neglect and abuse of that same foundation. CBK
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100%, Diane. Jeff Bezos doesn’t care if you cancel. He doesn’t make money from the Post, but he does worry about Trump cancelling Amazon deals at the Pentagon and Trump tariffs undermining the “avoid sales tax” discounting strategy that made his company succeed. On the other hand, the writers and reporters at WaPo are standing up, and they need to keep doing their job–writing that endorsement editorial that Bezos squashed, reporting on the daily grind of the election. Canceling is phony feel-good, like voting for Jill Stein or staying home on Election Day. It feels powerful, but it’s political junkfood. It makes the bad guys giggle, and it hurts the rest of us.
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Agreed, Russell.
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Canceling my WaPo subscription means that I can increase my monthly contribution to The Guardian, which I read to get what I consider to be better coverage of global news.
I know my cancelation doesn’t mean much to Bezos, but it is small and meaningful act for me.
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👏👏👏👏👏
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I totally agree- If you really want to hurt Bezos then stop using Amazon.
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After a century of two newspapers in eastern Missouri, only the liberal leaning paper is still running. “Back in the day” editorials were predictable but no one complained about the news stories being political sided. Now with on only one paper and, the critics (aka angry people who write comments) complain all news stories are slanted.
It’s sad that major newspapers are afraid the American public are either too angry or too stupid to distinguish news from fact-based opinion (or good old opinion) to the point of running scared of endorsing candidates.
The unanticipated consequence of this is WAPO may get Watergate-bold again and people will resubscribe and negotiate a smaller payment and get gift subscriptions too!
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You may cancel your subscription and still read what they write. Your subscription is already paid up for possibly a year, at which time it will be terminated.
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As per usual, I agree with you here.
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Yeah, I considered this and I agree.
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Better to cancel Amazon Prime and get all your reading materials from the library, which you can do on a kindle. Canceling punishes the writers and other staff.
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Sell your Kindle too.
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After the LA times and WAPO billionaire owners pulled the plug on endorsements for this election[?], I’m wondering how many of the rich and famous frequented one or more of Jeffery Epstein’s pedophile parties where the convicted rapist, fraud and felon #45 saw them since he was often there, too.
Or maybe Putin has dirt on them like he has on #45. Although I’m having doubts about Putin needing to blackmail the traitor, since the orange toddler worships the monster for being a monster.
Or are they only afraid of The Don of all Traitors if he gets into the White House and becomes the dictator, he keeps saying he wants to be, the Orange Hitler.
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Putin is the Joker. He toys with trump and talks with Musk. Musk shows up at trump rally. Who’s next? The not-Kennedy Kennedy and Putin. Trump soaks it all in and someday there will be a Putin “ask” or a Putin blackmail of America or a thousand satellites thanks to these wannabee dictators.
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Lloyd, I think that Bezos is afraid of what Trump will do to his businesses if he wins.
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This makes a lot of sense to me. Do you think that Elon Musk and other billionaires (who seem to be in a race to become the first trillionaire) have the same fear?
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Musk has billions in federal contracts for SpaceX.
I don’t think he is afraid of Trump. He sees Trump as a useful tool. He’s way richer than Trump. Trump wants his approval..and money
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The guy danced on stage for Trump. I mean, seriously.
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Yes, it looks like money is the motive, because according to ex-WaPo editor, Robert Kagan, Trump & Bezos made a quid pro quo deal regarding this matter: https://www.thedailybeast.com/ex-washington-post-editor-robert-kagan-this-is-a-straight-jeff-bezos-donald-trump-quid-pro-quo/
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I actually cancelled my subscription to the NYT last week because I was so horrified by the sane washing of Trump after how they piled on Biden. Oh I know they finally got with the program, but too little too late for me. Still have my WaPo subscription. Their coverage of Trump’s unfitness was better.
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Hello, my name is Aruzhan, a journalism student at the ESJ Lille in France. I’m reaching out to ask if I may contact you to ask a few questions about your decision to keep your Washington Post subscription.
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Most of us here would like to continue to read what the opinion writers at the Post write. We’d like to learn from them, benefit from their work, and use it well. And we might think that remaining a subscriber is a way of supporting these writers and the continuation of their excellent work. But others who appreciate this feel that what has been done at the LA Times and Washington Post (now followed by a major Florida news outlet) is such a serious abdication of responsibility at a time when so much is at stake, reflected and symbolized by the rally at Madison Square Garden, a clear call back and echo of the 1939 Nazi event there, that a very strong response is called for. Timothy Snyder has advised people not to start obeying or complying with authoritarians, dictators, fascists in the making even before they are in power. Many find in the behavior and thinking behind these decisions at these news outlets that just such compliance has taken place. So while remaining a subscriber is certainly understandable, so is a protest by canceling ones subscription.
Sent from the all new AOL app for iOS
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A segment from today’s Robert Hubbell post:
Reporters and columnists at the LATimes and Washington Post are asking subscribers not to cancel because they fear for their jobs if their employers go out of business. That may happen in any event. Or the LATimes, WaPo, and NYTimes may become fulltime apologists for the first fascist regime in America.
If that happens, we will be okay. There are a hundred million Americans (and more) who will resist—and prevail. Fascism seems like a good idea to disaffected and angry voters until they realize they are the victims of the fascist regime—along with everyone else.
The energy, commitment, and enthusiasm unleashed by the grassroots movement that emerged in 2017 and was renewed in 2024 by Kamala Harris will not disappear. It is a permanent feature of American politics. It will prevail with or without gutless media outlets like WaPo, CNN, and the LATimes. It is not our job to save them; it is their job to rise to the challenge of MAGA fascism and a changing media landscape.
Readers have been asking me for advice about canceling their subscriptions to the Washington Post. I think it is reasonable to continue their subscriptions or to cancel. It’s a personal choice about tolerance of cowardly behavior vs. the utility of the positive parts of the Post. I have had enough. I cancelled my subscription to WaPo today even though that decision will make writing this newsletter more difficult.
Platforms like Substack will replace the legacy media outlets that surrendered to fascism. We should welcome the resignations of every news reporter and opinion writer from WaPo and LATimes to Substack. They will make this platform stronger and more liberal, tolerant, and fair-minded.
We must not allow the collapse of the Washington Post to distract or deter us. The election remains close—but we have momentum and enthusiasm on our side. Kamala Harris remains “on-message,” energetic, and joyful at the very moment that Donald Trump is descending further into darkness and delusion.
Stay strong. Be confident. We aren’t going away. Our nation needs us and we must remain steadfast in its defense—regardless of what the cowards at WaPo and LATimes do.
Sent from the all new AOL app for iOS
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Diane, I envy the freedom you have to cancel – or not – your subscription. I’m receiving a cocktail of chemotherapy drugs, one of which is Abraxane, a brain child of the medical whiz-kid who owns the LA Times. Every dose I receive enriches him to some degree. Believe me, I’d love to deny him that small income flow; but to do so would result in far more serious consequences than no longer being able to read some writers I like.
Please, Diane, exercise your freedom of conscience, even if it means passing up something that gives you pleasure. Do it for those of us who have the conscience but lack the freedom.
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William, please do whatever you must to regain your health. Even if it enriches someone you don’t admire.
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Canceling our subscription is the only vote we have.
The Post has violated the fundamental axiom of journalistic integrity: the business side does not dictate what the editorial side writes.
Perhaps this move is unsurprising coming from a management of Murdoch alums. No one missed the fact that it was the publisher, not the editor, who made this decision. We know now that it came from billionaire owner Jeff Bezos himself.
I was born in Washington, DC. I have lived here for more than half a century. My father was reading the Sunday comics from the Post to me before I had even learned to read.
The only possible way to save our beloved institution — our storied newspaper — is to reject this fundamental betrayal of journalistic integrity at a key inflection point in the country’s history.
The columnists you mention may not have the wherewithal to find other jobs, but if the Post — as increasingly seems the case — is to become WSJ Lite, then you will not see their like in the future if you capitulate in the name of comfort and convenience now.
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I canceled. I will miss some of the outstanding contributions by WaPo’s writers and columnists, but here’s what I sent. The comments section was so overwhelmed that they directed readers to submit comments elsewhere:
” ‘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: character and courage in service to the American ethic, veneration for the rule of law, and respect for human freedom in all its aspects.’
Never in my 60 years of breathing air on this planet have I seen such a hypocritical piece of gaslighting that WaPo has become, and that statement from Will Lewis is the nail in the coffin. Blatant cowardice, proponents of both-sideism, and complete disregard of what’s at stake in this country after November 5th. Clearly, your billionaire handlers have now taken the reins on what was one of the most well-respected hard-news publications in the country and have run it into the ground. Democracy Dies in Darkness? Absolutely, with help from Bezos and the soulless mishandlers at WaPo. I have canceled my subscription. The decision was easy. I can’t support a publication which doesn’t have the courage to support authentic democracy in this country and by doing so tacitly supports a dangerous, demented lunatic for President.”
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Those Opinion Writers would be welcomed at many other media outfits and or educational institutions. Dana Milbank, Jennifer Rubin, Eugene Robinson are not exactly starving writers . As much as I loathe some of the behavior of the NY Times from burying the Trump Crossfire Hurricane story while headlining the Hillary Email investigation. (They were both in the same investigation.) To economic reporting that blew inflation far out of proportion. In addition to numerous other issues I have with the Times reporting . I keep my subscription because of several Opinion writers . Yesterday I cancelled WaPo. Too bad I am paid up till June. I will not click on WaPo’s home page (generating add revenue ) again as long as Bezos owns the paper. We are looking at far more than a disturbing pattern of reporting. With far more at stake.
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The decision by several big city newspapers to forego endorsements will have exactly zero impact on the 2024 election. The Washington Post is a very liberal, extremely partisan publication that publishes endless news stories and opinion pieces critical of Trump and other Republicans. Peruse the reader comments any day and it’s obvious that the WP reader base is 90+% moderate liberal to far Left. Will the WP not endorsing change anyone’s mind about voting preferences?
The hysteria over this non-endorsement decision is virtue signaling of the most laughable kind. Everyone here and elsewhere is trying to outdo each other in implied proclamations of moral superiority, the latest manifestation of the mindset that inspired the “In This House We Believe…” lawn sign fad that thankfully has abated.
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How can you not be critical of Trump. He’s a virtual cornucopia of depravity, narcissism, ego-mania, demagoguery, diarrhea of the mouth and a liar of epic proportions, etc. ad nauseam.
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So, endorsements by major newspapers don’t have any effect. Well, THAT’S an interesting proposition, up there with “Unborn baby sings like Elvis” and “The shape-shifting reptilians from Alpha Draconis have a spaceport under the Vatican.”
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I wonder if there is any rule preventing the individual columnists from making their own endorsements. Do it and run it on the front page. There is more than one way to make a point. Shove it to Bezos.
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I suppose if I can’t say something nice about something I should just shut up.
Nah: Boo hiss!
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Amen. As a retired opinion page editor, I know the tough work journalists do. I also know the owner/publisher has the final word on both news and opinion content. Reporters, editors and other staff members can only strive to do their best performing this vital work. I’m frustrated by the non-endorsement, but I will continue to support the Washington Post because democracy depends on it. Trump would like nothing better than for this and every other newspaper to fold. Why would I help make that happen?
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Appeasing a bully only guarantees that the bully has you completely under his thumb.
And we’re not talking lunch money here.
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”I want to read what they write.”
Going forward, how will you know if they’re able to write what they want?
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I read, like and respect all of them.
But this is war. Bezos is now a participant. He is a hostile.
We cannot tolerate this, nor those who aid and abet it.
Surely no one thinks that this happened along with the L.A. Times coincidentally? These things do not happen without pressure. At a time when newspapers should be a bulwark against naked power, two of the biggest pull this?
Coincidences happen. But I don’t think this is any coincidence at all.
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“I don’t think this is any coincidence at all.”
Yep. I thought the same thing. After LA fell in line, I immediately checked to see what other papers have done, especially how my two big city local papers weighed in, as they have both long endorsed a presidential candidate. Often, one here supports the GOP and the other supports the Democrat, but neither has endorsed anyone yet. So we’ll have to wait and see if they and others succumb (to the fear of tRump?) as well. Why are they waiting though, when so many people use mail-in ballots now-a-days and have already voted?
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Trump has managed to stifle press freedom without being in office.
That mouth has the power to destroy.
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With regard to WaPo, it’s not Trump I’m worried about. It’s publisher Michael Lewis, who has a history of corruption and silencing staff. Ask Sally Buzzbee, the only female executive editor in the history of the paper. Also concerning, Bezos himself, who killed the endorsement only hours before Blue Origin executives met with Trump in Texas. I’d rather have Trump as himself than as the ideological puppet of two billionaires in their race to Mars.
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My worry is not that Trump will be the puppet of Bezos and Musk, but they they–with their billions–will be HIS puppets.
Besides, Trump already has a puppet master: Putin.
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Well, you got Door No. 2.
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I think there are a lot of us who would like to boycott billionaires that repeatedly demonstrate they lack ethics and have little care for humanity, but who have personal reasons why they struggle with actually doing it.
I don’t have a subscription to WaPo and I’m not crazy about Whole Foods, so I have no problems going without them. However, I’ve thought a lot about boycotting Amazon and that is challenging for me, because I’ve been spending a large chunk of my poverty-level Social Security Retirement Income and food stamps/EBT/SNAP at Amazon since the pandemic, particularly for basic survival, because I have health problems, can’t get out now, they deliver and their prices are fairly reasonable. For the last few months, I’ve already been reducing the amount I spend there, but I doubt I can cut them out of my life entirely –as I did for years with Walmart. But I didn’t have as many health issues then, plus I had a car at the time, so I had more options.
The bottom line is that people need to do what is best for them, in their situations, which differ from person to person, and I believe that should be understandable, forgiven and supported by others. So I comprehend and back the stance of Diane and others on this matter.
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The oligarchs are getting in line. A free press obsequiously bowing to Trump’s clear mendacity is a sure sign of our slow descent into fascism.
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OMG, this is the most ominous and realistic warning from the Bulwark yet:
Bezos, Trump and the Failure of Democracy
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/bezos-trump-and-the-failure-of-democracy
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(i.e., Democracy in our country is already a lot worse off than people realized and the evidence provided makes it very clear)
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Diane, one of the reasons I most respect you is your willingness to think for yourself and to revise your decisions when you have new information. It’s a rather rare quality in a public figure. I’ve also considered canceling my WaPo subscription and my NYT as well. I’m going to wait a bit longer.
I left Twitter a while after Musk began to turn it into a toxic cesspool, regretfully because it was a bona fide way to connect with other advocates for public schools, both locally and in far-flung places. I used it mostly as a news source, pointing me to new writers. I do think we are seeing the last gasps of legacy media in the WaPo and the NYT. When billionaires buy up news coverage whether to suppress or to push, the Fourth Estate has failed. Dropping my subscriptions to those two outlets will allow me to support more independent media. It’s what I plan to do after this election and the fallout that will come from it.
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Thank you, Christine.
I held my nose and stuck with Twitter, even though it’s a cesspool. I did that because I have 144 thousand followers. I signed up for other social media, but none has the reach of Twitter. I hope that Musk gets bored and sells it to someone with integrity. But that’s unlikely. I’ll stay in Musk’s sewer, battling it out with Nazis, MAGA, and assorted others.
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I would really recommend you read Jonathan V. Last’s latest in The Bulwark.
The Washington Post is already lost.
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I find this hard to believe because the number is staggeringly high, but NPR’s media correspondent is reporting that the WaPo has had 200,000 subscription cancellations over the last several days.
https://x.com/davidfolkenflik/status/1850983505058283682?s=46&t=vV_4bJ7GuABaalzetJofQA
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“Several” is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence.
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?
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Oh, I agree! I just want to be a witness to the destruction first hand until post election.
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I drink lefties tears
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Alec,
Tomorrow morning I will do just that.
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