4 ms·
The ideal is that a good newspapers' jobs are to provide unbiased facts, not to tell people how to think. Not endorsing a candidate, but instead focusing on th
by A1kmm 2y ago
The ideal is that a good newspapers' jobs are to provide unbiased facts, not to tell people how to think.
Not endorsing a candidate, but instead focusing on the facts, and on what they genuinely think will be of the most public interest in selecting content, is in fact closer to that ideal.
It is the biased presentation of information, and the corresponding polarisation and information void that lead to the success of candidates using deception to get elected.
So while Washington Post has many biases, this particular decision seems like a step in the right direction process-wise.
- yboris 2y agoFor context: "Washington Post didn't endorse in White House race for first time since 1980s" So, for the first time in 40+ years ... did they share a philosophical stance for why they are not doing it - one that we could point to and argue about?
- bediger4000 2y agoYes. It leaves out the Jeff Bezos intervention, so we can conclude it's a post hoc rationalization. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/25/washington-post-endorsement/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/25/washingto...
- standardUser 2y agoTraditionally, newspapers have editorial boards that are separate from reporting. And traditionally, editorial boards make political endorsements. This is in addition to printing editorials and opinion pieces from a variety of perspectives. All of that is separate from reporting, which strives to be objective. Both coexist within most media organizations. Fox News pioneered the blurring of those lines, but the lines remain clear at most traditional major media outlets. This is a case of a major paper deviating from the norm and succumbing to political pressure, which is outside of the established norms in a society with a free press.
- mike_hearn 2y agoBezos says you're wrong and that he's changing the Post because of the polls that show nobody trusts the media anymore. The Post loses large sums of money because its costs are so high relative to its fairly small circulation, a problem that affects the entire US media business. He simply doesn't care what the "norms" of the newspaper business are because those norms have destroyed the industry. He seems particularly to be annoyed that podcasts/social media have outcompeted his paper. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/28/jeff-bezos-washington-post-trust/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/28/jeff-bezo...
- standardUser 2y agoBezos is completely out of touch like most billionaires.
- rootusrootus 2y agoThe idea that this was a noble decision would be way more credible had it not occurred a few days before the election. They should have said this months, if not years ago.
- add-sub-mul-div 2y agoNewspapers provide facts and also editorial analysis. It's shocking that people don't know that. This event is novel. An editorial board publishing their opinion isn't telling you how to think. It's presenting a viewpoint. Contextualize it however you want with other sources and then make up your mind. But exposure to different opinions is important just like different presentations of facts.