Mr. Lewis' follow-up strongly indicates that Jeffrey does, in fact, want Pravda and not the WSJ. If he were a better commissar, Lewis would have not have let the mask slip with "what we stand for as a newspaper"... it won't just be the opinion section expected to constantly and properly invoke the sacred words or face consequences under the (unwritten and unspoken, but very very strong) organizational guidelines.
I’ve kept my WaPo subscription, but this might be the thing that kills it for me. Unless someone can give me a good reason to keep going with this shitshow?
Same here, so I can't give you a good reason. Well, I'll miss the cooking, dining, and Hax chats, but those don't seem reason enough to stay. And the chats of Eugene Robinson and Karen Tumulty, but I don't see them staying either (whether by choice or being forced out, particularly Robinson).
My feelings exactly. I now realize that I read the Post for the opinions -- I also subscribe to the NYT, so I can get my news there.
As Gene said, combined with the fact that Trump will be controlling which reporters get access, this slow-motion slide into oligarchy has just picked up speed. Can't wait to read what all those commenters who said we were crying wolf have to say. (Looking at you, Richard Burcik.)
Oh wait -- I won't BE able to read what they say . . .
It's up to you and I'm not going to pass judgment. Since you are asking, I strongly encourage you to quit today.
It was hard to cancel the Post for me as I'm a life-long subscriber and really admired many of the people who worked there and still do. But when Bezos pulled the Kamala Harris endorsement, that meant he was crossing a bright line by changing the newspaper to please Trump, so the paper, from now on, could no longer be trusted. Later the same day Blue Origin executives met with Trump staffers and posted an exuberant shared selfie. That evening I canceled my subscription even though it broke my heart.
Sure I get that there's a difference between editorial and news for professionals in the field and Bezos has only been publicly proven (at least as of then) to be meddling with -- and now directing -- the editorial side. But that editorial/news distinction is not important, because it's not a difference that means anything to Bezos. He did something he shouldn't to the editorial board; why not do the same to the news? The worst part is that we could never see if he's already tampering with news or not, because it would be behind closed doors. Just as an example, if someone came to the Post with a big story and full receipts that would make Trump look bad and reveal wholesale corruption, would it get covered at all? Would it get covered half-heartedly? Would it even get covered full tilt, but then all those involved would find they were unlikely to be promoted, might get iffy reviews, might get fired? All of that is unacceptable at a paper I would have relied on for my news.
After I canceled my subscription, one of the new, up and comers who was revitalizing the Post's coverage of South Korea and other Asian countries with on-the-ground reporting, shared on Threads that "doing a boycott" would "hurt all the Post reporters and editors" who were working just as hard as ever. I felt so bad. I replied that I did value her and other staffers greatly, but that Jeff Bezos had destroyed the basic trust I had for the Post as a reader, so I couldn't pay for it anymore. I wrote that this was not a boycott. It was a divorce.
Deborah there is no longer a good reason to subscribe to a now politically compromised rag. I had a long-time subscription, ended it after the election as astute columnists left or were forced out. The massacre at the Post dramatically continues. Look for the principled columnists who left at other sources.
Cancel and tell them why. Sure, sometimes I miss Sietsma and Hax, but I see no reason to support a paper that is nothing more than Bezos ' personal vanity project.
I kept my WaPo subscription through the failure-to-endorse event because I believed that the paper as a whole would retain its journalistic integrity. But this pushed me over the edge. I canceled yesterday. I still have my NYT subscription even though they haven't been great. Too much sanewashing. What's another paper that's worth subscribing to?
Now the official paper of the party formerly known as Republican. All hail The Washington Pravda. All the news (and opinion) that "fits." But we'll be covering the rape and pillage of America with our usual fairness.
The Washington Post has always been a small but constant and comforting part of my life. It was always around the house growing up. I read parts of it as a kid, used it for current events school reports, and matured into an adult whose primary news source has always been the Post. This almost feels like the death of an old friend.
I am at Nationals spring training camp in Florida, seeking an escape from all this for a few days. I was standing on the back fields this morning chatting with Washington Post writers Chelsea Janes, Andrew Golden, and Spencer Nusbaum, when they showed me the note that arrived from Bezos. "WTF" and "Whose personal liberties?" was the immediate reaction. Post Slack is exploding with chatter not unlike that happening in federal government offices. What do we do? Do we fight? Do we quit?
I'd tell them that unless they're seeking to write fascist bullshit, they should quit. If I stayed, I wouldn't be able to look myself in the eyes while I shaved.
I have studied the USSR for over a half century. It took me several readings to fully absorb the meaning. Quite frankly, the letter would have been much clearer in the original Russian or German. After 40 years, I cancelled my subscription this morning.
As a former journalist this chills me to the bone. Combined with the restrictions on who is in the pool and who gets security clearance to cover the White House, and the earlier capitulation by CBS, ABC, The Post, and the LA Times, it is a grim picture for the health of journalism and the country. And then there's Mississippi, where a judge granted a mayor's request for a restraining order against the local paper, prohibiting them from running editorials critical of the mayor. Fascism at its finest right here in the old US of A.
Now not just a matter of saying the quiet part out loud. Bozos is shouting it. The WaPoo it is. Personal liberties? Free markets? Yep, all mine 'cause I've got enough money to be stupid longer than just about every stupid person other than maybe Elmo Muck. And by the way, fuck you! Mine, all mine! Bwahahaha!
Jeffrey, if you wanted the Wall Street Journal, you should have bought it.
Maybe he thinks he bought The Washington Times
It's not about buying the content you want. It's about silencing the content you don't want.
Mr. Lewis' follow-up strongly indicates that Jeffrey does, in fact, want Pravda and not the WSJ. If he were a better commissar, Lewis would have not have let the mask slip with "what we stand for as a newspaper"... it won't just be the opinion section expected to constantly and properly invoke the sacred words or face consequences under the (unwritten and unspoken, but very very strong) organizational guidelines.
"Shipley answered with silence." Take your buyouts now, folks.
Lewis is unprincipled pond scum.
Just rename the WaPo the Bezos Beobachter...
I’ve kept my WaPo subscription, but this might be the thing that kills it for me. Unless someone can give me a good reason to keep going with this shitshow?
Same here, so I can't give you a good reason. Well, I'll miss the cooking, dining, and Hax chats, but those don't seem reason enough to stay. And the chats of Eugene Robinson and Karen Tumulty, but I don't see them staying either (whether by choice or being forced out, particularly Robinson).
My feelings exactly. I now realize that I read the Post for the opinions -- I also subscribe to the NYT, so I can get my news there.
As Gene said, combined with the fact that Trump will be controlling which reporters get access, this slow-motion slide into oligarchy has just picked up speed. Can't wait to read what all those commenters who said we were crying wolf have to say. (Looking at you, Richard Burcik.)
Oh wait -- I won't BE able to read what they say . . .
You can get some of your news in the NYT. Try theguardian.com/us
I meant I won't be able to read what the WaPo commenters say.
I meant you won't get all of the news in the NYT.
Luckily, I also subscribe to the Guardian. And the Contrarian.
Are there any "ians" I've missed?
I think Hax is on Medium.
It's up to you and I'm not going to pass judgment. Since you are asking, I strongly encourage you to quit today.
It was hard to cancel the Post for me as I'm a life-long subscriber and really admired many of the people who worked there and still do. But when Bezos pulled the Kamala Harris endorsement, that meant he was crossing a bright line by changing the newspaper to please Trump, so the paper, from now on, could no longer be trusted. Later the same day Blue Origin executives met with Trump staffers and posted an exuberant shared selfie. That evening I canceled my subscription even though it broke my heart.
Sure I get that there's a difference between editorial and news for professionals in the field and Bezos has only been publicly proven (at least as of then) to be meddling with -- and now directing -- the editorial side. But that editorial/news distinction is not important, because it's not a difference that means anything to Bezos. He did something he shouldn't to the editorial board; why not do the same to the news? The worst part is that we could never see if he's already tampering with news or not, because it would be behind closed doors. Just as an example, if someone came to the Post with a big story and full receipts that would make Trump look bad and reveal wholesale corruption, would it get covered at all? Would it get covered half-heartedly? Would it even get covered full tilt, but then all those involved would find they were unlikely to be promoted, might get iffy reviews, might get fired? All of that is unacceptable at a paper I would have relied on for my news.
After I canceled my subscription, one of the new, up and comers who was revitalizing the Post's coverage of South Korea and other Asian countries with on-the-ground reporting, shared on Threads that "doing a boycott" would "hurt all the Post reporters and editors" who were working just as hard as ever. I felt so bad. I replied that I did value her and other staffers greatly, but that Jeff Bezos had destroyed the basic trust I had for the Post as a reader, so I couldn't pay for it anymore. I wrote that this was not a boycott. It was a divorce.
Deborah there is no longer a good reason to subscribe to a now politically compromised rag. I had a long-time subscription, ended it after the election as astute columnists left or were forced out. The massacre at the Post dramatically continues. Look for the principled columnists who left at other sources.
This was the last straw. I just cancelled mine.
I dropped mine in December when it was renewal time. Glad I made the decision.
Cancel and tell them why. Sure, sometimes I miss Sietsma and Hax, but I see no reason to support a paper that is nothing more than Bezos ' personal vanity project.
Yes, this. Last I checked, his email is jeff@amazon.com. (Publicly available; I'm not doxxing him.)
Hax advocates that the reporters and reporting are still strong— I canceled my subscription but maybe-up it under a different account after awhile.
at the very least, delete the app so he can't follow you around and re-sell the data collected.
I kept my WaPo subscription through the failure-to-endorse event because I believed that the paper as a whole would retain its journalistic integrity. But this pushed me over the edge. I canceled yesterday. I still have my NYT subscription even though they haven't been great. Too much sanewashing. What's another paper that's worth subscribing to?
"You can only write about personal freedom or you're fired."
Yes, a nice little irony.
Now the official paper of the party formerly known as Republican. All hail The Washington Pravda. All the news (and opinion) that "fits." But we'll be covering the rape and pillage of America with our usual fairness.
Well said, Dale. Just one emendation: It's the Trumplican Cult, not Republican Party.
RIP, GOP.
The Washington Post has always been a small but constant and comforting part of my life. It was always around the house growing up. I read parts of it as a kid, used it for current events school reports, and matured into an adult whose primary news source has always been the Post. This almost feels like the death of an old friend.
If you haven't yet, now is the time to quit your subscriptions. It's over. Nuke it from space.
Wow. From Woodward and Bernstein to this. So glad I unsubscribed in November.
Same
I am at Nationals spring training camp in Florida, seeking an escape from all this for a few days. I was standing on the back fields this morning chatting with Washington Post writers Chelsea Janes, Andrew Golden, and Spencer Nusbaum, when they showed me the note that arrived from Bezos. "WTF" and "Whose personal liberties?" was the immediate reaction. Post Slack is exploding with chatter not unlike that happening in federal government offices. What do we do? Do we fight? Do we quit?
I'd tell them that unless they're seeking to write fascist bullshit, they should quit. If I stayed, I wouldn't be able to look myself in the eyes while I shaved.
I have studied the USSR for over a half century. It took me several readings to fully absorb the meaning. Quite frankly, the letter would have been much clearer in the original Russian or German. After 40 years, I cancelled my subscription this morning.
Jesus H. Christ
This was my final straw. I have been reading the Washington Post since I was 8; that's 61 years! I canceled today. I am heartbroken.
The fascists are being fascist and doing fascist things.
As a former journalist this chills me to the bone. Combined with the restrictions on who is in the pool and who gets security clearance to cover the White House, and the earlier capitulation by CBS, ABC, The Post, and the LA Times, it is a grim picture for the health of journalism and the country. And then there's Mississippi, where a judge granted a mayor's request for a restraining order against the local paper, prohibiting them from running editorials critical of the mayor. Fascism at its finest right here in the old US of A.
Now not just a matter of saying the quiet part out loud. Bozos is shouting it. The WaPoo it is. Personal liberties? Free markets? Yep, all mine 'cause I've got enough money to be stupid longer than just about every stupid person other than maybe Elmo Muck. And by the way, fuck you! Mine, all mine! Bwahahaha!
I loved something I saw many months ago. A comment that called the oligarch Felon Musk, but the F is silent.
Damn. Well, aside from the absorbency issues, now I don't want to wipe my ass with Jeffie's paper.
I'm glad I don't have a puppy.
So the next step seems obvious. Curating the news.
Controlling opinion. Between the WH choosing the reporters and Bezos choosing opinions, we can call this Tass 2.0.
That's what this is in weasel words, IMHO.