WHY THE NEWSPAPER ENDORSEMENT RETREATS MATTER

If the publisher of the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times killed Harris endorsements, is there any reason to doubt this censorship spreads to reporting and opinion pieces?

Top: Spineless Jeff Bezos, owner of The Washington Post (Courtesy Forbes); Bottom: Dr. Patrick Soon-Siong, Owner of Los Angeles Times.

The past few days have rocked the shrinking world of American print journalism, as The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times, two mainstays of the industry, reversed their long traditions of Presidential endorsements for all the wrong reasons. The editorial boards of both papers planned to endorse Kamala Harris, and their owners refused to allow them to be printed. While neither paper has offered what could be termed a candid explanation, it doesn’t really matter; most Americans believe they abstained because they are afraid of retaliation form Donald Trump should he win this election. There really is not any other believable reason. Donald Trump has threatened the media, and these two are frightened of him.

Patrick Soon-Siong, the owner of the Los Angeles Times, has not made any statements about the reversal of policy, but his daughter claims it was a protest against the Biden Administration’s handling of the Gaza War. Really? If that were the case, why not say so in an editorial?