Feb. 4 was a day that rattled the world of journalism. Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, who purchased the Washington Post in 2013 — the 149-year-old storied newspaper that was home to Woodward and Bernstein, the famous reporter duo who broke the Watergate story in 1973 — announced that he was laying off 30% of the entire workforce, around 300 people, due to financial losses over the past two years. The Post will shutter its sports desk, same with the Books section, and it will suspend its podcast that this reporter enjoys and listens to for accurate news and analyses, Post Reports. The international desk will shrink — the paper’s Ukraine bureau chief and correspondent, as well as the entire Middle East desk, were let go. Not like anything of note is happening in those regions, right? Interestingly, the reporter who covers Amazon for the Post was also fired.
Journalism has often been called the fourth estate, or the fourth branch of government, because of its important role in holding up a light to what our elected and business leaders are doing. A society cannot hold its leaders accountable if we don’t know what they are up to. That is one reason the Post, in 2017, adopted the official slogan, “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” This highlights the dangers of government secrecy and the importance of a free press.
Bezos, like many billionaires, has sought to cozy up to President Trump. He paid $40 million for the Melania movie and spent another $35 million marketing the film (so far, the movie has only made $7 million). Imagine if he had used that money instead to save the Washington Post? Or the $500 million he spent on a yacht? Or the $55 million for his wedding?
Bezos showed his true colors when, in an unprecedented move, the FBI raided the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson last month, taking her phone, two laptops, and her Garmin watch in an investigation of a government contractor’s handling of classified material. Bezos stayed silent.
Whether or not you like the Washington Post, it has played an essential role in our democracy for the past century and a half, exposing important stories about our leaders, our government, and the world that many of us would not know about otherwise. The decimation of the Post is yet another example of democracy’s pillars crumbling under the Trump administration.
Former Post executive director Martin Baron said, “This ranks among the darkest days in the history of one of the world’s greatest news organizations … Bezos’ sickening efforts to curry favor with President Trump have left an especially ugly stain of their own. This is a case study in near-instant, self-inflicted brand destruction.”
That is one reason Sen. Bernie Sanders coined a new slogan for the Post — “Democracy Dies in Oligarchy.”
Don’t let our democracy die. Please continue to support newspapers, both local, regional, and national. A democracy without a free and fair press is no democracy at all.
