Betrayed Washington Post readers leave their parting thoughts in 140,000 comments

According to NPR’s David Folkenflik, a staggering, catastrophic 8 percent of Washington Post subscribers – over 200,000 — have canceled their subscriptions since Friday’s news broke that owner Jeff Bezos ordered the editorial board not to endorse Kamala Harris for president.

Many who unsubscribed stopped in before they left to say goodbye, posting reader comments on the Post’s own website.

Those comments number an astonishing 140,000 at last count if you add up responses to the publisher’s note, two news stories about the decision, a whole lot of opinion pieces, including one co-signed by 20 columnists, published letters to the editor, and one devastating political cartoon.

I looked through a bunch of them, and what I found was a clear, overarching message: The Post’s readers feel betrayed.

The Post won their hearts because of its courage, its willingness to speak truth to power. In their minds it was still the newspaper of Watergate, of the Pentagon Papers.

These readers took its motto seriously: “Democracy Dies in Darkness.”

But no more. Now they think of it as a cruel joke.

They are bereft. Heartbroken. A lot of them take it personally.

They don’t buy publisher William Lewis’s lame excuse about returning to a long-ago tradition of non-endorsements.

What they see is a hasty, cowardly retreat in the face of a fascist threat. And in unprecedented numbers, they are leaving.

Here are some of the reader comments that caught my eye:

From Wapode

Historians will mark today as the day a once-great newspaper lost its readership.

The day the newspaper owner proclaimed his fealty to a dictator.

Lewis, by this act, you have shown that you know nothing of the history of the Washington Post.

From realpop

After 34 years, 10 months, and 25 days (since Jan 1, 1990) I just cancelled my subscription.

From Thomas Kroncke

The issue isn’t that an endorsement from the Washington Post would make a difference. It wouldn’t. But it seems very clear that this is a way for Jeff Bezos to avoid blow back from Trump if he wins the election. It’s cowardice at best and naked greed at worst.

From SuspectOne

As if Trump would be satisfied by anything less than a full-throated WaPo endorsement of a Trump dictatorship.

From MarcSCWN

The truth is by not endorsing anyone you are saying to us that it is okay to have a fascist as president. As a result, I will be cancelling my subscription.

From rae1

And they have the nerve to pretend that what they are doing is noble in some way. “Returning to our roots” what rubbish! The fact is that they know that we are on the knife’s edge of fascism. Indeed, that is the *reason* they are not endorsing. Because a fascist is about to take over and they are afraid to be on his bad side.

From LA_Chris

Just to provide more context – this is the first time in 36 years Washington Post has felt too intimidated to endorse a candidate.

From Dontbedaft

Have been reading this paper since Watergate. No more, cancelled.

From Appalachiane

So “democracy dies in darkness” is not a warning but your roadmap. And “without fear or favor” is a joke. In the words of Liz Cheney: someday Donald trump will be gone but your dishonor will remain.

I have revered the Post since the watergate days.

Today you disgust me.

From Adam

Absolutely unforgivable cowardice. You and the LA Times and all these other media orgs are pre-emptively cowering before a wannabe fascist who has been calling for your heads–not just metaphorically, he genuinely wants you harmed physically and will not hesitate now–for over eight years, because you somehow think that, what…you can grovel enough to avoid his little revenge tour if he manages to win and/or seize power again? Have none of the decision-makers here ever read a single history book? Learned how that gambit never works?

Have the people behind this craven abjuration of responsibility watched the courage of your moral betters as colleagues in authoritarian countries around the world risk everything to tell the truth and to look power right in the eye? Keep Jamal Khashoggi’s name out of your paper from here on out. He died for his courage; the Post’s decision here would nauseate him beyond belief. My heart goes out to the hard-working folks at the Post who are surely as furious about this as we the readers all are.

Singularly disgusting and I will not be renewing my subscription.

From tansymoth

You waited until the most consequential election of all our lifetime to “return to your roots”. We are in a fight for the future of this nation, a fight against despotism and fascism. All voices must be raised in opposition. Your moral cowardice is stunning.

From BandinBoston

I have felt sick to my stomach ever since reading this a few hours ago and I finally figured out why. It’s not anger, it’s betrayal. Washington Post, I trusted you for years to be on the side of truth and democracy, and today you betrayed that trust.

I’m just an ordinary guy. By myself, I don’t stand a chance against Sir William Lewis, not to mention Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Jeff Bezos, Patrick Soon-Shiong, Rupert Murdoch, and the other billionaires who are lining up behind Trump either out of greed or fear. The only bulwark the rest of us have against that kind of power is a free and courageous press.

In the last 24 hours two formerly great newspapers have abandoned the fight. Shame on you, L.A. Times and Washington Post.

From ByeBye WP

Just canceled my subscription which I’ve had for many many years. Fortunately it’s effective next month.

The Post has been working more and more rightwing talking points (and headlines) into the publication since Murdoch-trained editors and publishers took over. What a shame for me, at 73 y.o., to see how many people are helping a treasonous conman into the White House.

Thank goodness NPR, the Guardian, and a few other media outlets still have some integrity.

From Nowick1

Cancelling my subscription actually felt really bad. The Post still has many smart, fearless and sane journalists whose writing can give you a better perspective on all the the issues of the day or, in the case of Alexandra Petri, feel better about the endless madness. I will miss them all. But with this craven decision, the credibility of an American institution came to an end.

From Deeds Not Words

Canceled my subscription.

Another example of why this election is even close…cowards who will not stand up for democracy and America when it matters.

From Arthur J Montana

Democracy Dies in Darkness is no longer the WaPo’s Motto. It’s now, this devolved rag’s new Mission Statement.

From RetdFred

Thirty six years of a home delivery and all access subscription just got cancelled. The owner and leadership of the Washington Post just demonstrated that they cannot be trusted to act with integrity or to preserve journalistic independence.

From Scarcasm

Canceling my subscription right now. Democracy also dies from cowardice.

From SleeplessinVa

Cowards and enablers. If you can’t stand up to an obviously sick man, then what good are you? Billionaire ownership of the media is destroying decency. Cancelled subscription.

From McPerson

This is the last contact I will have with the Post, I just canceled all subscriptions. This paper just backed Trump by failing to endorse Harris, similar to the cowardly move at the Los Angeles paper. Words fail me, and customers will fail you.

From bluegreenmountain

Democracy dies in spineless complacency…

From ThirdGenDC:

The canary in the coal mine is officially dead. The once great Washington Post (whose owner, Katharine Graham, and managing editor, Ben Bradlee, risked absolutely everything in the Watergate scandal and are now spinning in their graves) has just died in darkness. Thanks, Bezos, for caving in to fascism — in advance — just because you don’t think $200 billion is enough money for you. There is a special place in Dante’s Ninth Circle for people like you.

From Cbl55 Sylvester the Cat

Someone will need to tamp down the dirt around Katharine Graham and Ben Bradlee’s graves, indeed. For those of us old enough to remember literally rushing to read Bernstein’s and Woodward’s reporting in 1973-74 every day, the pain is overwhelming. If today’s Post cannot bring itself to endorse a competent, skilled, compassionate, articulate woman over a deranged liar who thinks Adolf Hitler was kind of a good guy, that tells us all we need to know about the values its owners hold close to their hearts today.

The worst part of this decision is that Jeff Bezos doesn’t really give a flying flamingo about our subscriptions. Tens of thousands could end theirs tomorrow — if they haven’t already — it would make no difference. For him, invested in Amazon, Whole Foods, space contracts, the Post is little more than a vanity project — a hobby, like taking up the French horn, learning to square dance, quilt-knitting. It’s not where his money is.

Bezos has cast his vote — for the thirty pieces of silver he thinks Donald Trump may yet give him if he wins (God forbid). I suspect that if such a calamity were to occur, Trump will still figure out a way to throw him under the same bus he’s already tossed everybody who’s ever worked for him, the same one now rolling over General John Kelly, General Milley, his own former Vice-President, his defense secretary, his first secretary of state. Everything Trump touches turns to 💩 — you’d think Bezos would have figured that out by now.

From Integrity Now

If the owner spikes an endorsement, journalists and might pause instead of giving their best take. There’s no longer a safe place at the Post for them to do their best work. I’ve cancelled.

From beauhom

William Lewis’ justification for this was nauseating and insulting. Does he really think we’re THAT stupid?

Other than cancelling, what else CAN we do? What exactly does “support Journalists” mean for the average consumer? The only democratic leverage we have is our subscription money.

From MikeinNC64

Cancelled yesterday after 10 years.

Bezos demonstrated the ultimate in cowardice and greed.

He is now the same as those German corporate titans who caved to fascism due to their cowardice and opportunistic greed.

Starting my search today for a replacement news source with integrity.

From maitri60

I just logged in to unsubscribe. It’s a shame. I subscribed to the NYT and WaPo for years and years. I can’t keep reading a publication whose owner complies in advance. We won’t strengthen democracy and repel fascism without a struggle.

The billionaires won’t win. There are too many of us. But we’ll have to find our news elsewhere. Independent newspapers and journalists are the only source of factual information and a pro-democracy mindset as far as I can see. I’d ask for recommendations in the replies but I’m out.

From Opus_123

Bezos has an obvious conflict of interest in seeking to do business with the Federal government while owning a newspaper tasked with accurately reporting about its possible leaders.

 

The conflict of interest should be obvious after this.

Bezos should either sell the paper or gift it to his ex-wife, Mackenzie Scott.

From BlueHT

The Post has been right sliding for quite a while. Bezos giving into the bully is just the last straw.

From ThommVA

It’s time to go to the Associated Press and the BBC where fear isn’t a factor and the news is not beholden to billionaires.

Cancelled after 42 years of loyal readership.

From apple crisp in response to this article:

Note to the WaPo journalists who wrote this story. It is incorrect to report that the readers who cancelled their subscriptions are ‘primarily from the political left’ of the political spectrum. I am not a progressive nor do I lean left. Nor are my friends. Or, the commenters I have met on-line in the comment sections. I’m a moderate. I am a patriot. I love America. I see Trump, a convicted felon and an adjudicated rapist, as a diabolical threat to democracy. The Washington Post, a newspaper that proudly claims that democracy dies in darkness, has a responsibility to its readership to make an endorsement against this disturbing and dangerous Republican candidate for the nation’s highest office.

From Petersburgh

Never thought I’d see a day when Mark Milley, John Bolton, John Kelly, and the Cheney family would stand up and do the right thing, but the Washington Post would not.

From Garmeaux

After canceling my 40-years long subscription to the Washington Post, I plan to support journalism by subscribing to a newspaper that isn’t owned by a billionaire with business interests that will be directly affected by the outcome of the election. I take note of the reporters who insist that they will continue to do courageous journalism at the Post. That’s great but it now seems inevitable that, if trump wins the election, those reporters eventually will be directed to dial back on reporting that is adverse to trump. I have little doubt that, having bent the knee to trump once, Bezos will do it again.

From darkwingduck

I’ve been a Post reader since as long as I could remember. It was the paper I grew up with and I now even pay for my college kid’s subscription. I’ve never been angrier. This was the paper that brought down Richard Nixon. Now it’s fawning in subservience to a would-be dictator who isn’t even in office yet.

Bezos, please sell the paper to someone who won’t trash its integrity. That way you don’t have to worry about your money – as if you need more. Lewis, please leave and go away. You clearly have zero interest in actual journalism. You’re too craven for this side of the pond. Go back and hack phones for the likes of Murdoch. That’s clearly more your speed.

From Signsrus

If William Lewis resigns (and if they bring back Greg Sargent) I might reconsider my cancellation.

From evenmore2cents

The tragedy is not that the Post did not endorse Kamala Harris. It is much bigger than that. The impact of the Post’s (or the LA Times’) endorsement of Harris or Trump would have been negligible (although in this tight race maybe even negligible benefits matter). Instead, darkness has arrived at the Post because readers now have reason to fairly question what other content its owner may influence, thereby undermining the credibility of the publication. I have cancelled my subscription.

From Retdfed

The once loyal readers of the Washington Post are not given to falling for Lewis’s style of attempted gaslighting. I just cancelled a home delivery subscription of 30 plus years. Shame on Lewis and Bezos. This cowardly “business” decision will bite them in the rear. Sadly, it is likely to damage many of my favorite journalists and cartoonists as it fades into oblivion. What a tragic end to a once proud institution.

From hellokitty5

This newspaper didn’t merely “disappoint” me today. It betrayed me and the country I love.

From Java Man

Canceling was not just about expressing my anger at the endorsement decision.

If Bezos/Lewis killed the endorsement article that the Editorial Board wrote because they fear Trump, what does that say about the news articles about Trump if Trump is re-elected? Why would I believe that Bezos/Lewis would kill the endorsement but not kill future news articles that are critical of Trump or his policies?

Once a newspaper betrays the trust of its readers it does not get it back without new leadership.

From beatlefanfcb

I have had home delivery for 50 years. I am cancelling tomorrows. Bezos should have to pay income taxes every year like those of us who aren’t rich.

From Capriccio

I am feeling my age and rather adrift.

I started reading the Post in 1971 as a freshman in college. By 1973 I had a subscription that I kept except for 14 years in the late ’80s and 90s when we lived overseas. Even then we read the International Herald Tribune co-owned by the Post and the NYT. My husband cancelled his subscription to the New York Times last month and this afternoon I cancelled my subscription to the Post.

These 21st century oligarchs make the robber barons of the 19th century look like small fry.

From LCSW Quilter

I cancelled my subscription without hesitation today, but it continues my access until Nov. 6. That’s the only reason I’m still reading the Washington Post. It’s extremely disappointing and feels like a death to cancel my subscription, but it is no longer a paper I can respect and admire. I hope its world class journalists quit and begin their own newspaper that reports and acts with journalistic courage based on ethical principles. I would subscribe to that, but not to anyone who acts as apologists for this unacceptable decision by Bezos.

From Hugs5936

I am so disappointed. Really feel sorry for you and your fellow journalists. I have canceled my subscription to the WP and to Amazon. I have no other powers.

Democracy does die in darkness.

From View From The Ether

If it wasn’t for the Washington Post, Watergate would have never been exposed. Here we have a situation far worse and the WaPo retreats in cowardice and complicity.

It is now up to the staff to determine if they want to be associated with such an organization. Regardless, I have voted in the only way that would have a minuscule effect, by canceling my subscriptions at WaPo and Amazon.

At least I have done a little something to register my displeasure.

From Lil Red 74, in response to a column by Dana Milbank,

I cancelled within an hour of getting the news on Friday, and I don’t regret it. The trust in your newspaper has been breached, and that may be a much bigger deal to people than you believe it to be. If I wanted news that was directly guided by an oligarch, I’d just watch Fox or read a Murdoch paper. What’s so incredibly sad here is that Washington Post has become that. I hated to cancel, but just can’t have any part of what Bezos is involved in – it goes against every fiber of my being.

That said, Dana, if Bezos sells WaPo to a party that respects journalism (and journalists) then I am likely to return. I appreciate the great work that you and the other writers have done.

From Jim di Griz

While I would hate to see good journalists lose their employment, the fact remains that the WaPo’s integrity is irredeemably compromised while Lewis and Bezos remain in power.

From JRLuth

And the funny part is Bezos showed weakness. Trump will now delight in shanking him over and over. The grift will be enormous and Bezos will never pay enough tribute to satisfy the sadistic orange thug.

Democracy dies in cowardice

From BrookhavenGal

It is kind of breathtaking that Petri, Ruth Marcus and other columnists, employees of Jeff Bezos, are being printed blasting him in his own paper. You have to grant WaPo that much. I cancelled too, by the way.

From Human Being 1001

The joke is going to be on Jeff if he thinks this act of cowardice is going to ingratiate himself with Trump. Trump has a keen sense for weakness and now he knows he owns Bezos. The billionaires who think they can placate or potentially manipulate Trump are badly mistaken.

From Daisy222

I am 61 years old. The Washington Post was the paper my parents subscribed to and my husband and I have subscribed to for the entirety of our 39 year marriage. I am heartsick that I must now cancel. Your owner, Jeff Bezos is despicable. Democracy dies in darkness and the WaPo has turned off the lights.

From Hobbit Forming

Democracy is killed by billionaires who hire right-wingers to control the journalists who are doing their best to uphold journalistic integrity. It’s a slap in the face and a huge disservice to those reporters and writers, as it is to the readers of this newspaper and to the nation. The billionaire owner of the LA Times refused to allow its editorial board to endorse Kamala Harris, and this deranged decision is another blow to a free press. We are witnessing the destruction of our democracy even before Election Day—dominoes willingly falling at the feet of the presumed fascist-in-chief. They don’t want to be on the wrong side of the he who has bragged that he will arrest and punish his enemies.

From al holler

Remove your motto