The Washington Post Building at One Franklin Square Building in Washington, DC on June 5, 2024.
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washington post The number of digital subscribers is reportedly down by more than 200,000, following the decision not to endorse a candidate in the presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. Three members of the committee resigned.
Two sources familiar with The Post’s internal affairs said: NPR‘s David Folkenflick reported on Monday that the newspaper had lost about 8% of its 2.5 million paying subscribers, including its print edition, since Friday’s announcement of rejection.
Molly Roberts, David Hoffman and Miri Mitra resigned from the paper’s 10-member editorial board following controversial endorsement decisions, but the Post’s The staff say they remain.
This is the same number of people who resigned from the editorial board. Los Angeles Times‘s committee protested the paper’s decision not to endorse the presidential candidate.
A Post spokesperson declined to comment on the loss of subscription fees or the resignation of editorial board members when asked by CNBC on Monday.
Also on Monday, USA Today said it would not endorse any presidential candidates this year. of gannetIn 2020, the newspaper, one of the largest-circulating newspapers in the United States, urged its readers to choose President Joe Biden over President Trump, breaking with its longstanding tradition of not endorsing presidential candidates.
But the Post has supported presidential candidates for decades.
Will Lewis, the paper’s publisher and CEO, said it was his decision to break with the paper’s tradition and not endorse a presidential candidate this year or in future elections.
But Friday’s Post reported, citing four people briefed on the decision, that the paper’s owners said: Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos has decided to no longer endorse the president.
The paper denied the allegations.
The Post’s editorial page was scheduled to endorse Democratic candidate Harris, according to the paper’s own reporting.
Roberts announced his resignation from the editorial board in a letter to Post Opinions editor-in-chief David Shipley, saying: “I stand silently against dictatorship – here, there and everywhere.” I wrote it.
She also released a statement online. “To be clear, the decision not to support this election was not made by our editorial board,” Roberts wrote. “It (read the report) belonged to Jeff Bezos.”
“I am resigning from the Post’s editorial board because there is a clear moral obligation to support Kamala Harris over Donald Trump. Worse, our silence is precisely because of Donald Trump. What the media and we want is silence.” ”
“The Washington Post’s reporting about its owner’s role and decision not to publish the president’s endorsement was inaccurate,” Lewis said in a statement Saturday.
“He wasn’t sent, he didn’t read the draft, he didn’t give an opinion,” Lewis said. “As a publisher, I don’t believe in supporting the president. We are an independent newspaper and we need to support our readers’ ability to make their own decisions.”
“While USA TODAY does not endorse presidential candidates, we do support local editors at publications across the USA TODAY network at the state or local level,” USA TODAY spokeswoman Lark Marie Anton said in an emailed statement Monday. I have the discretion to do so.”
“Rather than supporting individual candidates, many people are deciding to support important local and state ballot issues that impact their communities,” Anton said. “Why are we doing this? Because we believe America’s future is determined locally, one race at a time. Our public service is to provide our readers with the important facts and reliable information they need to make informed decisions.
USA Today’s decision was previously reported by The Daily Beast.
