On October 25, the Washington Post announced it would not endorse a presidential candidate, breaking with the paper’s practice dating back to the 1976 election. The publisher and chief executive officer, William Lewis, justified the decision as “returning to our [the Post’s] roots.” However, Lewis admitted to colleagues that the decision not to endorse a candidate was directed by the paper’s billionaire owner, Jeff Bezos.
On the other side of the country, the billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Times, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, also vetoed his paper’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris for president.
These edicts illustrate the concerning trend of billionaires buying media sources, including Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter and Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, and consequently eroding the integrity and independence of the outlet in service of the owner’s personal interests. With the independence of the news media falling under the influence of self-serving billionaires, the role of whistleblowers in exposing and defending the truth becomes more important and more difficult than ever.
Whistleblowers and the news media used to be brothers and sisters-in-arms in face of corruption and attacks on democracy. Fifty years ago, the New York Times and the very same Washington Post worked with Daniel Ellsberg to expose the Pentagon Papers, championing the public’s right to information and reaffirming the essential partnership of whistleblowers and the Fourth Estate. Whistleblowers have relied on reputable media outlets to hold the political class and powerful accountable. It is becoming clear that the media’s new billionaire owners are no longer reliable stalwarts willing to speak truth to power or put their self-interests in the rearview mirror.
The controlling influence of billionaire owners alters far more than just the endorsement of candidates. It signals to would-be whistleblowers that the partnership they have relied upon in the past to speak truth to power is eroding. The value of truth must be maintained, especially when the independence of the media has rightfully been called into question.
The editorial staff of the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times have strongly criticized this interference with their ability to report. Multiple resignations from each newspaper followed. The editorials editor of the Los Angeles Times, Mariel Garza, resigned on Wednesday after the newspaper’s billionaire owner blocked the editorial board’s plans to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for president. The Post’s editor-at-large, Robert Kagan, followed suit, telling NPR he had resigned from the editorial board in protest. Twenty-one Post Opinion columnists also wrote an article condemning the decision. This loyalty to the truth is at the core of what it means to be a whistleblower. We acknowledge you as whistleblowers of the first order. Thank you for your courage and decision to take a difficult journey.
The Washington Post’s slogan is “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” Truth matters, and we respectfully suggest that Mr. Bezos consider a change to “democracy dies when it suffocates under a mountain of cash.” Whistleblowers are the next and maybe the last line of defense in bringing the truth before the public.
The Guardian, a reader-funded news source, put it this way: “It has never been clearer that media ownership matters to democracy. In the heat of a tumultuous presidential race, there is an urgent need for free, trustworthy, truly independent journalism that foregrounds the stakes of this election for our country and planet.” It is not who benefits from an endorsement, but greed triumphing over news which makes the decision of Post and Times even more troubling. Truth matters only as much as it becomes available to an informed public.
WNN condemns the cowardice exhibited by the ownership of the Washington Post and Los Angeles Times and salutes the whistleblowers who were forced to stand up and speak out.