“The Washington Post” and the Double Bind of American Political Journalism
American journalists face a perilous choice in face of a potential Trump victory: speak truth to power or crumple to the whims of a dictator.
Like many other people, I was infuriated, but not surprised, by the decision of The Washington Post to refrain from endorsing any candidate in this year’s presidential election. Taken with a similar decision by The Lost Angeles times, it was impossible to shake the feeling that the news media was beginning a presumptive acquiescing to a feared second Trump term. Given the fact that the man — and the Republican Party in general — has made no secret of the fact that he plans to rule as a fascist, those in the media are perhaps right to be concerned but, as many have pointed out, the job of journalists is to hold politicians accountable, especially if they are trying to implement some form of fascist autocracy on American shores.
It certainly didn’t help matters that Jeff Bezos, who owns The Washington Post, took to its pages to argue that the news media has lost the trust of the American people. It’s not hard to see how this was all a little about damage control, since it seems more likely than not that the entire reason he vetoed the endorsement was to protect…
