Reader backlash against decision not to make presidential endorsement rolls on despite Bezos defense of decision

Deterioration of the Washington Post’s subscriber base continued on Tuesday, hours after its proprietor, Jeff Bezos, defended the decision to forgo formally endorsing a presidential candidate as part of an effort to restore trust in the media.

The publication has now shed 250,000 subscribers, or 10% of the 2.5 million customers it had before the decision was made public on Friday, according to the NPR reporter David Folkenflik.

A day earlier, 200,000 had left according to the same outlet.

The numbers are based on the number of cancellation emails that have been sent out, according to a source at the paper, though the subscriber dashboard is no longer viewable to employees.

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  • enkers@sh.itjust.works
    81·
    6 hours ago

    Sadly, that’s chump change for him. 250k sub’s at $120/yr comes out to $30M/yr. That’s ~ 0.015% of his net wealth. Better than nothing though.

    • Skua@kbin.earth
      24·
      6 hours ago

      I believe that the main reason for people as wealthy as him to own newspapers is not the money, it’s the influence. This does hurt that