The Washington Post has lost over 200,000 subscribers after the publication decided to not support any candidate in the U.S. presidential elections, reports National Public Radio.
According to the publication, by noon on Monday, more than 200,000 individuals had canceled their digital subscriptions. This figure accounts for approximately 8% of the publication's total paid audience (2.5 million subscribers, including print versions), and the number of cancellations continues to rise.
The CEO and publisher of The Washington Post Will Lewis explained the decision to refrain from supporting candidates in the current presidential race or upcoming elections as a return to the publication’s roots, when the newspaper maintained neutrality.
Former executive editor Marcus Brauchli noted that people do not understand the true reasons behind the decision, which was made without serious discussion with the newspaper's editorial board.
After the owner Jeff Bezos decided to block support for Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential election, several prominent journalists at The Washington Post announced their resignations. In particular, Molly Roberts and David Hoffman left the editorial board. Roberts warned of the consequences of choosing silence over publishing support for Harris. Hoffman, a Pulitzer Prize winner, referred to this decision as a “loss of voice” for the newspaper.
The publication's owner Jeff Bezos posted an explanation of his decision on the website. According to him, newspapers must be accurate, and people must believe that they are accurate.
“This is a bitter pill to swallow, but we do not meet the second requirement. Most people believe that the media is biased,” Bezos writes. In his view, supporting one of the candidates does not affect the course of the race but “creates a sense of bias.”
He also assured that the newspaper did not consult with any candidate about its decision, while acknowledging that it was made later than he would have liked.
“Simply refusing to support presidential candidates is not enough to significantly raise our trust level, but it is a meaningful step in the right direction. I wish we had made the changes sooner than we did, just moments before the elections and the emotions surrounding them. This was inadequate planning, not some deliberate strategy,” Bezos said.