October 25, 2024 – 10:34 pm
The Washington Post announced that it does not support either presidential candidate. According to the CEO, the decision represents a “return to the roots,” and according to William Lewis, the newspaper will continue to do so in the future. The move breaks with decades of tradition. Since the 1970s, the newspaper has supported one candidate in most presidential elections — which has always been the Democratic nominee, the newspaper wrote. BBC.
The Los Angeles Times announced a similar decision last week. The newspaper originally intended to support Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, but the plan was blocked by the newspaper's billionaire owner, Patrick Soon-Shiong.
In the case of The Washington Post, two sources claim that the editorial board supported Harris, but that has not yet been revealed. According to the same sources, the owner of the newspaper, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, decided not to publish the support.
“We realize that this will be interpreted in many ways, as an implicit endorsement of one candidate, a condemnation of the other, or an abdication of responsibility. It is inevitable,” Lewis wrote. “We don’t see it that way. “We believe this decision is consistent with the values that The Washington Post has long stood for.” Lewis added that it is also “a message that supports our readers to make their own decisions” about who they choose to be president.
Unlike the Washington Post and Los Angeles Times, the New York Times sided with Harris in September. The New York Post, a tabloid newspaper owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, sided with Republican candidate Donald Trump.
