Conflict of interest at the Wahington Post: Jeff Bezos

[Winehole23]

American journalism has entered highly dangerous terrain. One recent signal of this is the Washington Post’s refusal to face up to a conflict of interest involving Jeff Bezos—who’s now the sole owner of the powerful newspaper, and still the CEO and main stakeholder of Amazon.


Last October, Amazon won a $600 million contract to build a “cloud” for storing CIA data. The contract puts Bezos’ two entities at cross-purposes: The Post is supposed to expose CIA secrets. Amazon is under contract to keep them. The situation is unprecedented. Both Amazon and the CIA enjoy digital prowess at collecting global data and keeping secrets, and the two institutions have only just begun to explore how to work together more effectively.


In an email exchange (http://www.rootsaction.org/news-a-views/742-the-cia-amazon-bezos-and-the-washington-post-an-exchange-with-executive-editor-martin-baron) early this month, Washington Post executive editor Martin Baron told me that the newspaper doesn’t need to routinely inform readers of the CIA-Amazon-Bezos ties when reporting on the CIA. He wrote that such in-story acknowledgment would be “far outside the norm of disclosures about potential conflicts of interest at media organizations.”


But there isn’t anything normal about the new situation. As I wrote to Baron, “few journalists could have anticipated ownership of the paper by a multibillionaire whose outside company would be so closely tied to the CIA.”


The Washington Post’s refusal to provide readers with minimal disclosure in coverage of the CIA is important on its own. But it’s also a marker for an ominous pattern: combining denial with accommodation to raw financial and governmental power. This is a synergy of media leverage, corporate digital muscle and secretive agencies implementing policies of mass surveillance, covert action and ongoing warfare.

http://www.guernicamag.com/daily/normon-solomon-why-the-washington-posts-new-ties-to-the-cia-are-so-ominous/

[Winehole23]

embedded @ the link above: http://www.carlbernstein.com/magazine_cia_and_media.php

[Wild Cobra]

Why is a newspaper obligated to work against a government entity?

[Winehole23]

indeed, why shouldn't the Washingtion Post cover Obama's ass?

[Winehole23]

bravo, WC

[ElNono]

I knew all those "lamestream media" rants were posturing, tbh...

[pgardn]

The Post is supposed to expose CIA secrets.

from the op

What?

[Winehole23]

in a sense, the bread and butter of of journalism is to be leaky, but now there is an apparent conflict of interest @ The Washington Post

[pgardn]

Leak what?

Expose what?

[Winehole23]

whatever unnamed sources in government give to publicity

[Winehole23]

for good and for ill, right? sometime waste and fraud are exposed, sometimes you get the dose of pure propaganda.

And why not all at the same time?

[Winehole23]

the media megaphone is also a government megaphone. access is crucial for legitimacy.

[Winehole23]

taken in that sense, the Washington Post -- perhaps -- enjoys unique access to the cloud info of the USG, through the mutual owner, Mr Bezos.

[Winehole23]

Bezos spent 10 hot summers on his grandfather’s cattle ranch in Cotulla, Texas, and his cousin is country singer George Strait.


https://www.statesman.com/news/20180405/heres-your-friendly-reminder-that-jeff-bezos-is-george-straits-cousin


HQ2 daze:

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/retail/2017/09/07/jeff-bezos-roots-could-give-texas-an-edge-as-amazon-com-looks-for-new-hq-site/


present daze:


https://sl.sbs.com.au/public/image/file/c441042f-4cce-4871-9cb2-252bcc92f358/crop/16x9_large

[Winehole23]

Bezos forces out op-ed editor, announces a new editorial direction



https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:efxbtouacf2s2pzcvuv47ns2/bafkreic42albc374nnk7x4zs26bp4wv3cqreaulbyatt6ahf6 kz7vyzlwe@jpeg


https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:a5fwvpvub5e7mxaebuxn3tuu/bafkreiakhtuayp3no73wvqr42tkzmyajjhxy3ijehz2rhaxbr cahzjxony@jpeg

[Winehole23]

Shorter Bezos (https://bsky.app/profile/elienyc.bsky.social/post/3lj3nend5nx25): The Opinions section will now be my opinions only, but written by others because I am a shit writer. Who wants to be my new sock puppet??

[Winehole23]

and as per American tradition (https://bsky.app/profile/karlbode.com/post/3lj3oklq35s2a) by "free markets" we of course mean heavily consolidated and monopolized markets dominated by the biggest, most politically powerful companies, in turn protected by corruption and widespread regulatory capture

[Winehole23]

Bezos : i believe in the freedom to mandate (https://bsky.app/profile/hammancheez.bsky.social/post/3lj3ndda4uc2o) only 2 acceptable topics and 1 acceptable viewpoint on said topics

staff : how about fuck off

Bezos : u are free to leave

Bezos :

Bezos : FREEDOM

[Winehole23]

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:efxbtouacf2s2pzcvuv47ns2/bafkreigqcuke23z2c42gjbajfz6edn5v5fkcphibnk7mvtdo7 ffkocyz3m@jpeg

[Thread]

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:efxbtouacf2s2pzcvuv47ns2/bafkreigqcuke23z2c42gjbajfz6edn5v5fkcphibnk7mvtdo7 ffkocyz3m@jpeg

FINALLY somebody gets those fucks to quit.

YIPPEE!!!

And on Trump's watch no less...

..."But, I'm President, and their not."

[Winehole23]

you're underscoring my point and hers

[Thread]

you're underscoring my point and hers

I'll tell ya true, Winester: you've taken being on the shit end of the stick this time with great spirits and it's made for good times.

I hope when I'm holding that shit end I'll be able to return the favor.

[Winehole23]

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:gdj5pzurklijmlknynlpaora/bafkreigxqje5f6poickcdhdaaodql7feu2tsdvgtike3mhfxg bxg42ckoa@jpeghttps://www.ft.com/content/00e81e1a-a38f-4d45-89e8-0e8c162572b8

[Winehole23]

I'll tell ya true, Winester: you've taken being on the shit end of the stick this time with great spirits and it's made for good times.

I hope when I'm holding that shit end I'll be able to return the favor.You're full of shit, but I will say this

Faithful correspondents are rare on this board.

Candor is rare.

I appreciate mere responsiveness, even if the message is worthless -- or even evil.

Most of the tuff guy posters here are too cowardly to stand on their stupid shit or even give a straight opinion.

Not true of you, for better and for worse.

[Thread]

You're full of shit, but I will say this

Faithful correspondents are rare on this board.

Candor is rare.

I appreciate mere responsiveness, even if the message is worthless -- or even evil.

Most of the tuff guy posters here are too cowardly to stand on their stupid shit or even give a straight opinion.

Not true of you, for better and for worse.

Amen.

[Winehole23]

as far as I can tell

Anne Telnaes was just awarded a special Pulitzer for giving Jeff Bezos the finger


https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/world-news/2025/01/05/TELEMMGLPICT000407098224_17360709397320_trans_NvBQ zQNjv4Bq-IWLY18X4-CzgyIcjLEAj0k9u7HhRJvuo-ZLenGRumA.jpeg?imwidth=680

[Winehole23]

no more stand alone Metro section, subscriber base falls below 100,000 for the first time in 55 years

subs are down ~60% since Bezos bought the newspaper


According to data provided to City Paper by the Alliance for Audited Media, the Post’s paid average daily circulation is now down to just 97,000, with roughly 160,000 on Sundays. That’s a fraction of the 250,000 average daily circulation five years ago, when the Post was one of the largest newspapers in the country by circulation.https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/766255/washington-post-metro-sports-style-sections/

[Winehole23]

over 100 journos gone since the takeover

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:fji27tmf5mynmv3wipvwfdfv/bafkreie6oyhyl43f7gcyyclvz3gl7sb2gizeofoyetwdznr4s hhauqf6v4@jpeg

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:fji27tmf5mynmv3wipvwfdfv/bafkreig4sbpvs4ifbphli5vxjhuu5gmhok62qw2abypfob5pf fgsbaoh5y@jpeghttps://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:fji27tmf5mynmv3wipvwfdfv/bafkreigmctbkkmez5swyaq4zk7l74d4oabtvsa6exps4kfgng 3mcsjjxfe@jpeg

[Winehole23]

liberals purged on Yom Kippur



https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:gvfubqngd6l52wpreztedpmt/bafkreihdwpvcthhwyumr7rkygn4m5nnsicdfg54exvyquyvnk qwawvervy@jpeghttps://www.status.news/p/washington-post-opinion-cuts-adam-oneal

[SnakeBoy]

liberals purged

:tu

[Winehole23]

if Bezos wants to deep-six the reputation of the Washington Post, too late he already did

subscriptions have cratered

have you subscribed yet, Snake Boy?

[Winehole23]

no more stand alone Metro section, subscriber base falls below 100,000 for the first time in 55 years

subs are down ~60% since Bezos bought the newspaper

https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/766255/washington-post-metro-sports-style-sections/


"To put that in perspective: 97,000 is the sort of figure you’d expect to see from a mid-size regional paper like The Minnesota Star Tribune or The Seattle Times. Not from a globally recognized newsroom with multiple Pulitzers to its name"

[Winehole23]

WaPo "AI-generated summary" delivers



https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:maiw2rfujepnphhrejytvuu5/bafkreic655m52sjlabvbnhp7qs7gepn3tuec6o4rfcdfvyiwp 3bbkz4dyq@jpeg

[Winehole23]

Summing up, Bezos shoveled love and money at Trump, even muzzled The Washington Post for him, and saved billions on his taxes at Amazon

Now Bezos is shooting the dog



Last month, just ahead of the devastating layoffs at The Washington Post, a group of wealthy D.C. locals approached Post publisher and chief executive Will Lewis with a proposal: Would the Jeff Bezos–owned paper consider spinning off its local and sports sections and selling to them? Perhaps some type of deal could have been worked out where the property was jointly branded and operated, such as when CNN partnered with Fortune and Money magazines on CNNMoney.



The interest was there, but the group never received a response, Status has learned. A spokesperson for The Post did not comment, but Bezos has repeatedly ignored interest from would-be buyers while the newspaper disintegrates under his watch. Most notably, as Status first reported (https://www.status.news/p/washington-post-ownership-jeff-bezos) in 2024, Kara Swisher expressed serious interest in leading a group of investors to purchase the paper as it continues to make deep cuts to its newsroom under the oversight of Lewis and Bezos.

https://www.status.news/p/washington-post-jeff-bezos-ownership-sell