The Washington Post will become more right-wing

Published 29 October 2024 at 12.29

Media. Washington Post owner, multi-billionaire Jeff Bezos, has asked the paper to include more conservative voices in its opinion pages, the New York Post reports.

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Target is said to attract a wider readership and reach more right-wingers.

At the same time, the Washington Post has attracted attention by its decision to refrain from giving its official support to any candidate in the US presidential election. It is a 36-year tradition that is now being broken.

Washington Post CEO Will Lewis states that it was he, not Bezos, who stopped supporting Kamala Harris, which he says reflects the newspaper's belief in letting readers themselves form their opinion. However, several prominent employees are critical and consider the decision to be a departure from the newspaper's responsibility to stand up for its values.

The decision has been met with protests from both readers and employees. Several have canceled their subscriptions, and writer Robert Kagan has resigned in protest. He suggests that Jeff Bezos may have acted strategically to avoid conflict with Donald Trump ahead of the election, as Bezos' company Blue Origin has major contracts with the US government.

The internal controversy at the Washington Post mirrors similar tensions at Los Angeles Times, where the owner recently stopped the paper's plan to endorse Kamala Harris. Meanwhile, critics such as MSNBC's Joe Scarborough have accused media owners of kowtowing to potential power-holders, arguing that this undermines the independence and democratic role of the media.

American media has generally moved more to the right since the October 7 attack against Israel last year, when many owners are concerned about the pro-Palestinian left's protests against Israel.