In an uncertain US election, two prestigious newspapers refuse to take sides

In the days leading up to the pending presidential election, two of America’s most prestigious liberal newspapers have withdrawn their usual support for the Democratic candidate, sparking a backlash.

The Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post have announced that they have ended their long-standing practice of officially endorsing a presidential candidate.

That drew a sharp retort from former Post editor-in-chief Marty Baron, who suggested his old paper was being bullied by Republican Donald Trump.

“This is cowardice,” Baron said on X, “of which democracy is the victim.”

The broadly left-leaning newspaper, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, the founder and owner of Amazon, was set to endorse Kamala Harris, but said Friday it would no longer support presidential candidates in the upcoming election.

The decision, which followed a similar move by the Los Angeles Times, shook politics and journalism.

The Post, trying to justify its choice, said: “As a newspaper in the capital of the most important country in the world, it is our job to be independent. And this is what we are and will be.”

But the paper’s guild, which represents its journalists, said it was “deeply concerned”, adding that “support for Kamala Harris had already been developed and the decision not to publish was made by The Post’s owner, Jeff Bezos.”

A source close to the publication’s management denied this to AFP.

Earlier this week, Los Angeles Times billionaire owner Patrick Soon-Shiong rejected the paper’s editorial board, which also wanted to endorse Vice President Harris.

In protest, several employees of both newspapers, including editorial editor Mariel Garza, resigned.

“I want to make it clear that I do not agree that we should be silent,” she said in an interview.

“In dangerous times, honest people need to stand up.”

– The power of billionaires –

Trump campaign officials responded with delight, saying, “Kamala is such an empty vessel that the Washington Post chose to completely destroy the president’s endorsement rather than endorse her candidacy.

Many readers of both newspapers expressed their outrage, vowing to cancel their subscriptions.

The decision not to support stems in part from newspapers “not wanting to alienate potential readers,” said Dunnagal Young, a communications professor at the University of Delaware.

But “let’s be clear,” she added. “The media mogul class is probably not very inclined to want to alienate (a person) who could become president.

“People want to be on Donald Trump’s good side.”

Many media owners have financial interests linked to the government. Bezos owns shares in companies with significant contracts with the administration, including the Pentagon.

Dan Kennedy, a journalism professor at Northeastern University, said media owners were engaging in “presumptive obedience.”

For them, “dropping out of the presidential race so late in the campaign is a reminder of the punishment they could face if Trump returns to office,” he added in a blog post.

– Gone printing giants –

Despite this, Harris received endorsements this year from the New York Times, the Boston Globe, Rolling Stone magazine and the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Trump, for his part, has enlisted the support of the conservative Washington Times and the New York Post, a tabloid owned by tycoon Rupert Murdoch.

But while campaigns are increasingly betting on the influence of new platforms like podcasts and TikTok, the support of prestigious media “still matters,” said Jane Hall, a communications professor at American University.

The reluctance to endorse comes “as Donald Trump talks about cracking down on TV station licenses, further punishing journalists and attacking the free press in an administration that hasn’t even begun.”

In recent days, Trump once again called the media “the enemy of the people.”

Hall said the Washington Post, which added the phrase “Democracy Dies in Darkness” in 2017, was “courageous in covering the January 6 uprising and confronting threats against the media.”

As such, her decision to withhold support “will have a terrible effect on journalists,” she said. “It’s very shocking.”

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