Posted on 10/28/24
| News Source: Arutz-7
The Washington Post is facing a significant wave of digital subscription cancellations and resignations from several columnists, stemming from owner Jeff Bezos’ decision to prevent the paper from endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for President, NPR reports.
By midday on Monday, over 200,000 subscribers had canceled their digital subscriptions, sources familiar with the paper’s internal operations reported. While not all cancellations take effect immediately, this figure accounts for around 8% of The Post’s paid readership of 2.5 million, including print subscribers. Subscription cancellations were continuing to rise throughout the day.
A spokesperson for The Washington Post declined to comment, citing the company's status as privately held.
“It’s a colossal number,” former Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli told NPR. “The problem is, people don’t know why the decision was made. We basically know the decision was made but we don’t know what led to it.”
The cancellations reflect “the polarization of the times we’re living in, and the energy people feel about these issues,” Brauchli added. “This gave people a reason to act on this mood.”
Brauchli has also publicly advised people not to cancel their Post subscriptions in response to the controversy.
“It is a way to send a message to ownership, but it shoots you in the foot if you care about the kind of in-depth, quality journalism like the Post produces,” he added. “There aren’t many organizations that can do what the Post does. The range and depth of reporting by the Post’s journalists is among the best in the world.”
NPR first reported Bezos’ decision on Friday. Since then, two columnists have resigned, and two editorial board members have stepped down from their roles, according to the report.
“For decades, The Washington Post's editorials have been a beacon of light, signaling hope to dissidents, political prisoners, and the voiceless,” David Hoffman explained in a resignation letter on Monday. “When victims of repression were harassed, exiled, imprisoned, and murdered, we made sure the whole world knew the truth.”