Jeff Bezos has turned the lights out at the Washington Post – and plunged democracy into darkness

Would the paper immortalised by ‘All the President’s Men’ bother to dig and expose a latter-day Watergate? Would it even be bothered? Its billionaire owner has given us the answer, writes Chris Blackhurst

My degree was in law but I always wanted to be a journalist. I devoured the newspapers and magazines that landed at home. It was also because I read the book All the President’s Men and watched the subsequent film. The idea that two reporters from The Washington Post, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, could bring down the most powerful man in the world without firing a shot had me hooked.

It wasn’t simply what they achieved but how they went about their task, doggedly pursuing their goal, going deeper and deeper into the murk of the Richard Nixon White House. I wanted to do what they did. Down the years too, I’ve always turned to the Post for my fix on US and international politics. I read The Wall Street Journal and New York Times, but for its proximity to power and its reputation, reinforced by the Watergate expose, the Pentagon Papers and other exclusives, and that mission statement at the top of the masthead, “Democracy Dies in Darkness”, the Post has always won out.

Alas, not anymore. Not now that Jeff Bezos, the paper’s previously hands-off owner since 2013, has announced that only opinions that support “personal liberties” and “free markets” will be welcome in its comment pages. “Viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others,” he writes.

To say it’s shocking is an understatement. Bezos’s diktat goes to the very soul of the brand. His title can no longer claim to do what it says on the tin.

Already, the paper’s senior opinion editor, David Shipley, has gone. The rule of Bezos is not for him. Others will surely follow and with them, subscribers.

The fact this is a continuation of a process that has been unfolding for a while, of currying favour with Donald Trump, does not lessen the pain – and it is pain. It’s because it is direct from the boss, the proclamation carries his name and it pays no heed to what made the Post so essential and valuable.

‘If there were an “All the President’s Men” equivalent today, would The Washington Post bother to dig? Would it even be bothered?‘ (AP)

As someone who went on to edit newspapers, I am well versed in dealing with proprietors. I got to know what they thought, where their interests lay, and what they cared about. I would be lying if I said they did not have an influence – of course they did. Indeed, it would be foolish, suicidal even, not to hear their views on what we should be covering and how. After all, they were footing the bill. One of them made that point when, regarding a legal cock-up we’d made, he screamed: “This is my money!”

Sometimes, they could be forceful and voluble and downright rude. And I worked for some of the most determined characters in the industry, the fiercest, too, when they wanted to be. It was also my job, to shield the journalists, to take on board what was being said but to allow the staff to do their best, to produce an edition that was true to our values and readers. Never did I encounter any decree such as that from Bezos.

A newspaper should be receptive to a broad range of thought and analysis. Obviously, there are limits – no one ought to give oxygen to extremism, to distortion and untruth, and to material designed to cause offence. Generally, though, it’s a broad church. The paper will have its own priorities and arguments, but it would be shortsighted to shut out those with whom it does not agree. It’s doing a disservice and is insulting to the readers.

The Post lost more than 250,000 subscribers after Bezos banned the publication of an editorial endorsing Trump’s Democrat opponent, Kamala Harris. That was followed by the refusal to publish a cartoon showing US business titans, including Bezos, bowing to Trump. That led to the resignation of the long-serving cartoonist, Ann Telnaes.

Doubtless, he can weather any future loss – the Post is a mere blip in the Amazon founder’s vast fortune. It’s also true that his edict is directed only at the opinion pages. It’s possible the news will be unaffected. But Bezos has set the voice, he’s made clear what he desires and that is to put his personal beliefs first. From now on there is room only for those who think like him.

It's tragic. If there were an All the President’s Men equivalent today, would the Post bother to dig? Would it even be bothered? Bezos has supplied the answer. His Post has just gone dark.