Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and owner of The Washington Post
After the White House announces that it will choose the media that ask the president’s questions, Bezos banned opinions against the free market at The Washington Post. Opinion editor has already resigned.
The owner of The Washington Post, Jeff Bezoson Wednesday announced that the opinion pages of the US newspaper should focus on defending “individual freedoms” and “free market”, no longer publishing points of view contrary to them.
The decision of the founder of Amazon, unusual for a newspaper with the reputation of the Washington Post, is inscribed in a change to a Greater Bezos Interference In the decisions of the newspaper you bought in 2013.
“Let’s write every day in support and defense of two pillars: individual freedoms and free market ”, that is, against the regulations in the economywrote Jeff Bezos in a note to the newspaper teams.
“Of course we will cover other topics, but points of view that oppose these pillars will be published by others,” he added.
This decision led to the resignation of the newspaper editor of the newspaperDavid Shipyly. Bezos has already indicated that he will look for someone else for the position.
Jeff Stein, head of the Washington Post economic pages, denounced the interference of opinion section, but said that “he has not yet felt any interference” in his work as a journalist in the separate news pages. But “if you are trying to interfere with the news, I will immediately dismiss the resignation and know it,” he added.
The millionaire, increasingly aligned with the positions of US President Donald Trumpwas prominent in the republican’s inauguration, after having made a Donation of one million dollars For investiture, like other owners of large technological companies.
Before the November elections, the Washington Post of declaring support for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris during the election campaign. It was the first time in decades that the newspaper of the US capital did not support a presidential candidate.
“When it comes to the appearance of conflict, I’m not the ideal owner of The Post,” wrote the billionaire. “I assure you that my points of view are, in fact, based on principles, and I believe that my history as the owner of The Post since 2013 confirms that.”
“It is a certainly reasonable decision. But it was taken two weeks from the elections and there was no serious and substantive deliberation with the newspaper’s editorial board. It was clearly taken for other reasons, not for reasons of principle, ”lamented former executive editor Marty Baron in an interview with NPR.
The diary, which had a very tough editorial line compared to Trump in its first term (2017-2021), supported Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020, both Democrats.
White House will choose who asks questions to Trump
The White House announced on Tuesday that will start selecting The media authorized to participate in the presidential press group, thus ending decades of tradition of press freedom.
The presidential press group is currently consisting of a revolving group of reporters who watch and report the president’s daily activities. Traditionally, the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA), which represents journalists who cover the administration, determines which reporters selected for this role, among news journalists such as CNN, Reuters, Associated Press and for example The New York Times.
Now, the White House aims to include new media selected by itself – such as digital sites, podcasts and streaming services – in this group.
“The traditional media that have been here for years will continue to participate in the group, but new voices will also be welcome,” said press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“This measure attentive to the independence of a free press in the United States“Wrote Eugene Daniels, a police reporter and president of WhCA, quoted by. “Suggests that the government will choose journalists who cover the president. In a free country, leaders should not be able to choose their own press. ”
This Wednesday, the White House has already put into practice the new administration policy regarding media coverage, denying access to the first meeting of Trump’s office to reporters from Reuters, AP agency, HuffPost and German Der Tagesspiegel, the first.
ABC and Newsmax television teams, as well as Axios correspondents, The Blaze, Bloomberg News and NPR were allowed to cover the event.
