The decision by The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times not to publish endorsements of a presidential candidate has led to resignations. The Washington Post announced Friday, Oct. 25, for the first time in more than 30 years, the paper would not make an endorsement this year or for any future presidential election.
“We recognize that this will be read in a range of ways, including as a tacit endorsement of one candidate, or as a condemnation of another, or as an abdication of responsibility,” Publisher William Lewis wrote. “That is inevitable. We don’t see it that way.”
“We see it as consistent with the values the post has always stood for and what we hope for in a leader: character and courage in service to the American ethic, veneration for the rule of law, and respect for human freedom in all its aspects,” Lewis continued.
Lewis added this move stood as a statement of the Post readers’ ability to make up their minds.
According to The Washington Post’s reporting on the development, the paper’s editorial staff had drafted an endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris, but it had yet to be published. The post, citing sources, reported it was the paper’s owner, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who called for an end to endorsements.
In response to the decision, longtime columnist and editor-at-large in the opinions department Robert Kagan and contributing editor and former NPR anchor Michele Norris resigned, subscribers posted on social media screenshots of their cancellation confirmations and 20 opinion columnists wrote an article saying the decision was a “terrible mistake.”
The Washington Post’s move came on the heels of the Los Angeles Times forgoing an endorsement from its editorial board earlier in the week. Times publisher Patrick Soon-Shiong blocked the board’s planned endorsement of Harris for president.
The editorial page director Mariel Garza and two veteran journalists, Robert Greene and Karin Klein, resigned in protest.
So many comments about the @latimes Editorial Board not providing a Presidential endorsement this year. Let me clarify how this decision came about.
— Dr. Pat Soon-Shiong (@DrPatSoonShiong) October 23, 2024
The Editorial Board was provided the opportunity to draft a factual analysis of all the POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE policies by EACH…
Soon-Shiong posted an explanation on X.
“The editorial board was provided the opportunity to draft a factual analysis of all the positive and negative policies by each candidate during their tenures at the White House, and how these policies affected the nation,” Soon-Shiong wrote. “Instead of adopting this path as suggested, the editorial board chose to remain silent and I accepted their decision.”
“I am resigning because I want to make it clear that I am not OK with us being silent,” Garza told the Columbia Journal Review. “In dangerous times, honest people need to stand up. This is how I’m standing up.”
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign looked to capitalize on the move from the Los Angeles Times’ owner, sending out a statement.
“In Kamala’s own home state, the Los Angeles Times —the state’s largest newspaper —has declined to endorse the Harris-Walz ticket…even her fellow Californians know she’s not up for the job,” the statement said.
Greene and Klein, in separate instances, replied to Soon-Shiong’s suggestion of creating a list of pros and cons. They both said such reporting would fall under the news department, which operates separately from the editorial board in a newsroom.
