Jeff Bezos, the billionaire owner of the Washington Post and the creator of Amazon, claimed Monday that his decision to have the US newspaper not support a presidential candidate was “a principled decision” and disputed that it was motivated by personal considerations.
Bezos made the case in an opinion piece published on the newspaper’s website that action was required to address claims of partisanship since public confidence in the news industry was declining.
“What presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias. A perception of non-independence. Ending them is a principled decision,” he wrote.
For the majority of the past forty years, the editorial board of the powerful Post has supported candidates, all of whom are Democrats, before choosing to remain neutral in one of the most divisive campaigns in American history.
In the seven swing states that will probably determine the election, surveys show that Republican Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are tied in a close contest for the White House.
Bezos also denied claims that he had made the choice for selfish reasons, brushing off worries about a meeting between Trump and the CEO of the billionaire’s spacecraft business, Blue Origin, on the day of the announcement.
“I would also like to be clear that no quid pro quo of any kind is at work here. Neither campaign nor candidate was consulted or informed at any level or in any way about this decision,” he wrote.
Bezos, who paid $250 million for the Post in 2013, owns numerous other businesses, some of which have significant agreements with the US government.
Many individuals, including its own subscribers, criticised The Post’s decision when it was announced on Friday.
According to a report published by the US media outlet NPR on Monday, which cited two anonymous sources, the Post has lost 200,000 digital subscribers since the announcement, which amounts to 8% of its entire membership.
The Post’s decision comes after the Los Angeles Times, another prominent US newspaper, took a similar action.
