Jeff Bezos’s reported decision to block the Washington Post from endorsing presidential candidates has triggered a high-profile departure.
The paper's editor-at-large Robert Kagan is stepping down following the announcement that the Post wouldn’t endorse a candidate in the race for the first time in decades, per Semafor’s Max Tani. Kagan's exit comes after Post publisher William Lewis announced that the paper would no longer throw in behind candidates on Friday.
Lewis said he knew that some readers would view the enforced neutrality as an "abdication of responsibility" before painting it as a return to the paper's mission.
"We don’t see it that way. We see it as consistent with the values The Post has always stood for," he wrote. "We also see it as a statement in support of our readers’ ability to make up their own minds."
WaPo staffers reported that an endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris had already been drafted and that Bezos himself interfered with its publication.
Kagan isn’t the only Post staffer to express displeasure over the pressure from Bezos. Editorial board members were reportedly enraged at the move, with several “contemplating what action to take, ranging from resigning, quitting the board, or a statement,” per Tani.
The Post Guild, a union representing over 1,000 journalists and other staff at the Post, said in a Friday statement it was “concerned that management interfered with the work of our members in Editorial.”
“We are deeply concerned that The Washington Post — an American news institution in the nation's capital — would make the decision to no longer endorse presidential candidates, especially a mere 11 days ahead of an immensely consequential election,” the Guild’s statement read. “This decision undercuts the work of our members at a time when we should be building our readers’ trust, not losing it."
The move was also roundly condemned by former top Post editor Marty Baron, who called the move "cowardice."
Kagan’s exit and the editorial board fervor come just days after the Los Angeles Times’ billionaire owner blocked that paper from endorsing Harris. Editorials editor Mariel Garza quit after that decision, claiming the non-endorsement “undermines the integrity” of the editorial section.
