Jeff Bezos penned an Op-Ed in his Washington Post newspaper, last night, informing members of the press that we the people don’t trust them, the press, that is. It’s not going to help. The press views the readers who disagree with them as hinterland dwelling yokels. The ink-stained wretches see it as their job to educate, inform and bend us to their ways. They aren’t changing. They now see Bezos as an out of touch Oligarch courting Donald Trump as the new power broker. Churned out from the top Journalism schools, the press is incapable of aggregating data to form new thoughts. Let’s discuss.

The fuse was lit on this kerfuffle when The Washington Post (Democracy Dies in Darkness, doncha know?) staff were informed that the paper would not be endorsing a candidate, Kamala Harris. Shock. Horror. How would the yokels ever know who to vote for if their betters in the press didn’t advise them. From CNN:

For the first time in decades, The Washington Post will not endorse a candidate in this year’s presidential election, the newspaper’s publisher announced Friday, a decision that sparked widespread outrage among the paper’s staffers.

“The Washington Post will not be making an endorsement of a presidential candidate in this election. Nor in any future presidential election,” Post publisher Will Lewis said in a statement. “We are returning to our roots of not endorsing presidential candidates.”

The Post reported the decision not to endorse was made by the newspaper’s billionaire owner, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, citing two sources briefed on the matter.

The Post’s editorial page staffers had drafted an endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris and it was ready to be approved by its board, but the draft was never presented, a person with knowledge of the matter told CNN.

“Many on the editorial board are surprised and angry,” the person said.

“Angry”? Incandescent. On the other hand, Bezos got rid of dead wood and doesn’t have to pay severance.

They finally got rid of those people they didn’t want AND they don’t even have to pay unemployment. Hahahaha

Washington Post Staff Resign In Rage After Paper Reveals Decision On 2024 Endorsement https://t.co/I82KAP6XWq

— Book Nerd (@lachango) October 27, 2024

First Jeff Bezos vowed to hire more Conservative Writers.

Then, he wrote the Op-Ed to help the ink-stained wretches understand. They still won’t.

Opinion The hard truth: Americans don’t trust the news media
A note from our owner.

In the annual public surveys about trust and reputation, journalists and the media have regularly fallen near the very bottom, often just above Congress. But in this year’s Gallup poll, we have managed to fall below Congress. Our profession is now the least trusted of all. Something we are doing is clearly not working.

The Post writers are thinking that it is not their fault that the readers are too stupid to learn. Bezos tries to clarify it for them:

Let me give an analogy. Voting machines must meet two requirements. They must count the vote accurately, and people must believe they count the vote accurately. The second requirement is distinct from and just as important as the first.

“No”, cry the Post writes, “we shape opinions. We are not reporting the….um….facts.” This next part is just flat hurtful to the Post writers’ egos:

Likewise with newspapers. We must be accurate, and we must be believed to be accurate. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but we are failing on the second requirement. Most people believe the media is biased. Anyone who doesn’t see this is paying scant attention to reality, and those who fight reality lose. Reality is an undefeated champion. It would be easy to blame others for our long and continuing fall in credibility (and, therefore, decline in impact), but a victim mentality will not help. Complaining is not a strategy. We must work harder to control what we can control to increase our credibility.

“But, but, but,” the Post writers sputter, “Jeff Bezos is rich and his job is to fund our lifestyles.” I am telling you, rich folks don’t like to hemorrhage money.

That's likely what this is about. Publishers see the polling and trust in media below greasy hobo taint and are trying to stop the bleeding. It will be painful and the partisans in these newsrooms will stomp and make noise (Just as they did at CNN), but they see the writing on… https://t.co/g4lkzPXygW

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) October 25, 2024

Bezos goes on to explain how the paper didn’t use to make an endorsement and it doesn’t matter a pile of hippo poo anyway. He could have saved the space on that. Next, Bezos addresses the Blue Origin/Oligarch issue.

Don’t worry everybody, @JeffBezos sighed when he found out that his Blue Origin guy met with Trump on the day his paper pulled its endorsement. Case closed! Nothing to see here. Go about your business, America. pic.twitter.com/L5YNxp1ypv

— Robbie Sherwood (@RobbieSherwood) October 29, 2024

Yes, I sigh, too, when my coincidences clash. Two things can be simultaneously true. Jeff Bezos wants Elon Musk type funding from Trump and the decision not to endorse is a principled one. Finally:

While I do not and will not push my personal interest, I will also not allow this paper to stay on autopilot and fade into irrelevance — overtaken by unresearched podcasts and social media barbs — not without a fight. It’s too important. The stakes are too high. Now more than ever the world needs a credible, trusted, independent voice, and where better for that voice to originate than the capital city of the most important country in the world? To win this fight, we will have to exercise new muscles. Some changes will be a return to the past, and some will be new inventions. Criticism will be part and parcel of anything new, of course. This is the way of the world. None of this will be easy, but it will be worth it. I am so grateful to be part of this endeavor. 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.

Principled or cynical self-interest. Doesn’t matter. Rich folks hate to lose money. The writing is on the wall that citizen journalists can write like partisan hacks too. The writers at the Post need to wake up. They don’t have to write from a Conservative point of view. Just don’t lie. Admit when you are wrong. Don’t be condescending.

Admit Jeff Bezos is right. Grow up.

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