Media: A collective surrender to Trump?
The Washington Post’s staff are instructed to focus its opinion pages on promoting 'personal liberties' and 'free markets'
The free press in America is suffering a drawn-out “death of despair,” said George Packer in The Atlantic, and The Washington Post may be the first to go. Just months after he meddled in editorial decisions by nixing the Post’s presidential endorsement of Kamala Harris, owner Jeff Bezos last week sent a note to staff decreeing that the paper’s opinion pages would now focus on championing “two pillars: personal liberties and free markets.” Left unmentioned was how, or even whether, the opinion pages will cover the growing authoritarianism of the second Trump administration. Other media owners are also waving the white flag on President Trump. In December, Disney settled his “weak” $16 million defamation suit against ABC News; CBS may soon settle “an even more dubious” $20 billion Trump lawsuit over a 60 Minutes editing decision. Rather than hard-nosed news outlets focused on truth-telling, these companies are behaving like a “circus animal that doesn’t need a trainer to tell it to jump.”
“Please excuse Bezos if he acts like the owner of the publication he owns,” said Rich Lowry in National Review. It’s the norm for owners “to determine the editorial line of a newspaper.” But to the likes of former Post opinion editor David Shipley—who quit in disgust over Bezos’ order—and many current Post employees and readers, it’s the stuff of tyranny. Their outrage illustrates the Left’s fundamental “intolerance of dissenting news sources,” even ones committed to genuinely American principles such as “personal liberties and free markets.”
Bezos’ note is, “in its plain language,” unobjectionable, said Dana Milbank in The Washington Post. The question is whether he will let this paper fight the biggest danger to his twin pillars: President Trump. We should be challenging his mass deportation orders and barring of unfavored outlets from the White House press pool—both attacks on liberty—and his attempts to kill off free trade with punitive tariffs against allies. Will the Post keep speaking out against those threats? Don’t count on it, said Justin Peters in Slate. Bezos sees big opportunities in Trump’s hollowing out of government. Amazon’s AI ventures could take over services once provided by humans, for example, while Bezos’ rocket firm Blue Origin could step in for NASA. To grab this windfall, all he has to do is stay on Trump’s good side—and not let the Post say anything too mean. “Pragmatic oligarchs” like Bezos will “gladly help set the world on fire as long as they can bid on the contract to clear the debris.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
5 seriously spooky cartoons about HalloweenCartoons Artists take on the GOP boogeyman, a white sheet, and more
-
Political cartoons for October 25Cartoons Saturday’s political cartoons include hospital bill trauma, Independence Day, and more
-
Roasted squash and apple soup recipeThe Week Recommends Autumnal soup is full of warming and hearty flavours
-
‘Congratulations on your house, but maybe try a greyhound instead’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump wants to exert control over federal architectureThe Explainer Beyond his ballroom, Trump has several other architectural plans in mind
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Whistles emerge as Chicago’s tool to fight ICEIN THE SPOTLIGHT As federal agents continue raiding the city, communities have turned to noisemakers to create a warning system
-
Will California’s Proposition 50 kill gerrymandering reform?Talking Points Or is opposing Trump the greater priority for voters?
-
‘The trickle of shutdowns could soon become a flood’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations