Over 200,000 subscribers flee 'Washington Post' after Bezos blocks Harris endorsement

[just444]

More than 200,000 people had canceled their digital subscriptions by midday Monday, according to two people at the paper with knowledge of internal matters. https://t.co/KOENBL5RHp
- Andy Kaczynski (@KFILE) October 28, 2024

sourceICYMY; WaPo owner Bezos blocked a planned Presidential endorsement for Kamala Harris

Comments

[scriptedending]

Holy shit!! I knew a lot of people cancelled both this and the LA Times, but I genuinely was not expecting that many.

I know Jeff Bezos doesn't care and this won't affect him in any way, which is extremely frustrating.

[anterrabre]

It effects the overall value of the company (and resale) so it puts a hole in his pocket. He's still richer than hell but there's a difference in press of "Jeff Bezos - Owner of WP" and "That Asshole who was the reason why a 100 year old esteemed publication sank into the ground."

[winter_lace]

may it stain him forever

[anterrabre]

Some stains don't come off. Let's put it this way; the only reason why people remember the former Border Books ceo is because he ruined the company.

[anterrabre]

Whomp whomp!

re: your question - People vote with their feet. You can't do repulsive things and still expect people to give you money/buy your product/support your films.

[skyler_white_yo]

I wonder if people will cancel their prime accounts too. That would hurt him more than cancelling WaPo.

[therearewords]

You know the answer.

[angriest_girl]

They won’t. People don’t like to be inconvenienced when it comes to their entertainment - as evidenced by all those who complain about Netflix’s support of transphobic male comedians and Spotify’s support of Joe Rogan, but still have Netflix and Spotify accounts.

[waffletaco]

Same thing with people who were mad at r*ssia and boycotting them/companies owned there, but still use livejournal.

[inkstainedlips]

While I do understand that it's unfair to the journalist who work there, it's really the only way to send a message to Bezos. Hopefully those people who unsubscribed will support local press that has more courage.

[aristobrit]

Earlier this year he hired a new publisher, Will Lewis, from the far right British tabloids. He's famous for covering up a wide-ranging phone hacking scandal more than a dozen years ago at Rupert Murdoch’s British newspapers. He's garbage, and some of us saw this coming.

If Bezos thought it was a good idea to hire this guy, not endorsing Harris shouldn't come as a surprise.

[evilfirepixie8]

I flipped my WaPo subscription cost into a donation for The City and ProPublica.

[angriest_girl]

He doesn’t give a shit - he’s a kajillionaire. What will happen is that actual staff’s jobs will be at risk due to the downturn, and aren’t they the ones who wanted the endorsement? And when staff get laid off, he also won’t give a shit about that because he’s a fucking soulless monster.

[sillyskinny]

Sure, but what other option do regular folks have. This is only going to leave a small, temporary dent, but a dent nonetheless.

WaPo, Prime, Netflix... no matter which service you cancel, it's always going to affect the little people more than the ones at the tippy top.

[angriest_girl]

Yeah, I get it. You have to take a stand somewhere, and I have cancelled or no longer shop a bunch of places because of their management decisions, so I certainly don’t blame people for cancelling their subscriptions. It’s just frustrating that the person it’s directed at will remain unaffected.

[amw]

I don't think people canceling the subscriptions are directing it at a person. It's not about punishing Jeff Bezos or William Lewis personally. It's about using what little political power they have to make a statement about the level of integrity they expect to see from media companies. It's about setting expectations of trustworthiness in the media more broadly. It shouldn't matter which billionaire owns a paper, a fundamental principle of the free press is editorial independence, and I'm glad some WaPo subscribers are demonstrating their support for that. I hope the impact is felt wider than just this one media outlet.