Short read: Jeff Bezos faces Backlash for Refusal to Endorse Harris

The newspaper’s editorial page staff had written an endorsement of Kamala Harris for US president, but it was not published following a decision by Mr Bezos, the Post’s owner, to change its policy on endorsements, according to an article in the paper.

The reversal of decades of policy comes less than two weeks before the presidential election, in which Ms Harris and former president Donald Trump are running neck-and-neck, according to polls.

There were tensions between Trump and Mr Bezos during his time in the White House. Amazon filed a lawsuit in 2019 claiming it had been denied a $US10 billion US defence contract because of “escalating and overt pressure” from the then-president. The Defence Department later awarded the so-called Jedi contract to a rival bid from Microsoft.

Will Lewis, The Washington Post’s chief executive, outlined the reasoning behind the policy change in an opinion article in which he acknowledged that it could be read as “an abdication of responsibility” but added: “We don’t see it that way.””

Here’s Bezos’ rationale for the decision – Opinion | Jeff Bezos: The hard truth: Americans don’t trust the news media – The Washington Post

It is becoming increasingly clear that the implosion of traditional media will create new opportunities to make money from providing high quality news & opinion to wealthy niche audiences. The FT and NYT are probably the best-known global practitioners of this business model. It is a matter of time before someone in India builds a successful franchise along similar lines.

That leaves the small matter of who will provide accurate news & unbiased views for the masses given that the masses won’t be in a position to pay for either of these things. Two candidates come to mind: the state and/or crony capitalists.