Washington Post chief Will Lewis under pressure after refusing to endorse a presidential candidate

Publisher and chief executive defends call not to make presidential endorsement that some have called 'cowardly'

Washington Post publisher Will Lewis announced that the newspaper would not endorse a US presidential candidate. AFP

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Thousands of readers say they will be cancelling their subscriptions to The Washington Post and are taking the newspaper's chief executive Will Lewis to task after he said on Friday that the news organisation would not be endorsing either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump.

In an announcement on the Post's online edition, where Lewis wrote that the newspaper would be “returning to its roots” of not endorsing a candidate, more than 6,000 people commented in fewer than two hours, many with angry sentiments.

The newspaper's former executive editor, Marty Baron, meanwhile, called the decision “cowardice, with democracy as its casualty”.

“Amazon cart emptied, app deleted,” wrote one reader underneath Lewis's announcement, alluding to the fact that Post is owned and operated by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

“An absolutely cowardly decision,” wrote another. “These are not normal times, and it's unconscionable for an organisation with the reach of the Post to pretend that they are. Cancelling my subscription immediately.”

Lewis explained his decision by positioning it as a return to an older policy at the newspaper of not endorsing presidential candidates.

“The Washington Post is turning off the lights on democracy,” commented another reader, alluding to the paper's much paraded slogan: Democracy dies in darkness.

“Instead of writing something so gross and at odds with the ideals of your institution, you should consider resigning,” wrote another subscriber. “I’m cancelling my subscription and encouraging others to do the same.”

Lewis, who became the newspaper's chief executive in June, wrote about what he said was the historical context of the decision to not make an endorsement.

“Our job at The Washington Post is to provide through the newsroom non-partisan news for all Americans, and thought-provoking, reported views from our opinion team to help our readers make up their own minds,” he said.

“We are returning to our roots of not endorsing presidential candidates,” Lewis said, noting that paper had made previous decisions several times throughout its lengthy history to not make endorsements.

Throughout the last several decades, many newspapers and their editorial boards have made it a common practice to make endorsements before elections.

This week, the Los Angeles Times also declined to endorse Ms Harris or Mr Trump. LA Times owner and publisher Patrick Soon-Shiong defended the move by saying that he gave the editorial board an option to essentially list pros and cons of each candidate instead of an endorsement.

“Instead of adopting this path as suggested, the editorial board chose to remain silent and I accepted their decision,” he wrote on X. Several members of the LA Times's editorial board resigned as a result.

Some have accused both Mr Bezos and Mr Soon-Shiong of putting their non-newspaper business interests at the forefront of the decisions to not endorse a candidate.

Benjamin Wittes, a former member of The Washington Post editorial page staff, wrote on social media platform Mastodon about his disappointment at the lack of an endorsement.

“This genuinely shocks me. My thoughts are with my former colleagues. And I’m just going to say out loud that this would never have happened under Fred Hiatt or Meg Greenfield. Never,” he wrote, referring to former Post editorial page editors and writers.

The decision by the Post and the LA Times illustrates just how tense the lead-up to the November 5 US presidential election has become.

Polls show current Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and former US president and Republican nominee Donald Trump statistically tied, as both sides wage a bitter battle for the White House.

Mr Trump, who has since been convicted of felonies and was twice impeached during his presidency, managed to defy the odds to become the Republican nominee, something many of his critics thought would be nearly impossible after he lost re-election in 2020 to Joe Biden.

Lewis has previously found himself at the centre of controversy while at the Post. Several media outlets, including the Post itself, reported that Lewis, in his previous roles at UK-based publications, had been a part of efforts to routinely breach journalism ethics and at one point, assist with “fraudulently obtained phone and company records in newspaper articles”.

At the Post, he has also been accused of trying to suppress various stories. Lewis has denied these accusations.