Bezos: Goal is to Build a Trusted Washington Post

WASHINGTON, Oct. 29, 2024 - Jeff Bezos, owner of the Washington Post, said his decision not to endorse a presidential candidate was an effort to restore trust in the newspaper he bought in 2013.

Bezos, in a Monday opinion posted to the Post's website, said readers were losing trust in news sources. He noted that Americans’ trust in the media has reached record lows, falling below that of Congress.

"What presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias. A perception of non-independence. Ending them is a principled decision, and it’s the right one," Bezos said.

The Washington Post announced Friday that it would not endorse a candidate in the presidential election for the first time in more than 30 years. The expectation was the paper would endorse Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat.

In the immediate aftermath, the Post lost more than 200,000 subscribers, coupled with a few resignations by editorial writers who wanted the paper to take a firm stand against Republican nominee Donald Trump.

Bezos said the Post needed to establish a new standard for unbiased news coverage, which he said will cause readers to trust the work of Post reporters.

“Declining to endorse presidential candidates is not enough to move us very far up the trust scale, but it’s a meaningful step in the right direction. I wish we had made the change earlier than we did. That was inadequate planning, and not some intentional strategy," said Bezos. “Many of the finest journalists you’ll find anywhere work at The Washington Post, and they work painstakingly every day to get to the truth. They deserve to be believed."

Elon Musk, tech leader and emphatic supporter of Donald Trump, agreed with Bezos’ decision. Musk offered his support in a Monday post on his  X social media platform.