November Column Winner

Bezos right about endorsements, even if for wrong reasons

By Kim Poindexter, Tahlequah Daily Press

Several friends were incensed when Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, the tycoon who also owns Amazon and other corporations, nixed an endorsement for Kamala Harris. I know of at least 16 people who, as of Friday morning, had canceled their digital subscriptions.

That’s a drop in the bucket. On Halloween, Fortune Magazine reported WaPo had lost over 250,000 subscribers – not a trick for readers, and for the newspaper, not a treat, either. High-profile editors and opinion staff members resigned, but those talented journalists will find other jobs.

I am also a WaPo subscriber, and I’m staying put. Why? Because some of the country’s best journalists still work there, and because WaPo remains one of the most reliable and accurate sources of national and international news, especially when it comes to the rancid politics of the Beltway. Ultra-conservatives may argue to the contrary, but they’re not journalists, and if they think they know more about the industry than I do – I’m a 44-year veteran – they can suck a raw egg straight from the henhouse. Most of them don’t read newspapers, any-way, and certainly not perceived liberal rags like the Post.

I also want those journalists to keep their jobs, and I want WaPo to survive. I read Bezos’ rationale, and from my standpoint as the editor of a community newspaper, I have to validate at least some of it. He said, “Presidential endorsements do nothing to tip the scales of an election. ...” He’s right. People don’t mind being told what to vote for – a school bond issue, a hotel tax, if they are convinced of its merit – and they don’t mind being told what not to vote for. But they don’t want to be told whom to vote for.

In 1986, when I was a reporter, TDP endorsed for every county and state office, and every one of our choices lost. Afterward, I was told by a few folks they suspected a quid pro quo arrangement – something Bezos was quick to deny, just as I was. But I began to view endorsements as the kiss of death. In small towns, everyone is kin to half of everyone else, and they go to church and Kiwanis Club meetings together. Endorsements open breaches in communities that aren’t easily healed.

TDP has formally endorsed twice since 1986: once for Wilma Mankiller as Cherokee chief and once for Jason Nichols, who was running against Markwayne Mullin for the District 2 congressional seat. Mullin, now a senator, is a Republican, and Jason a Democrat, but the endorsement had nothing to do with party politics. It was because Jason was the “home boy,” and we all knew him and how he operated as a city councilor and mayor. We also knew how Mullin operated, and that he has avoided TDP re-porters – and indeed, Tahlequah as a whole in public forums – ever since our banner headline of “MULLIN A NO-SHOW” when he refused to speak at The Place Where They Play. That happened because then-Chief Bill John Baker declined to suppress the free expression of audience members who, at other events, had been holding up red index cards when Mullin uttered what they perceived to be a lie.

I will admit – and Jason knows this – that I was reluctant about the endorsement; I felt it would hurt him more than help him. And TDP was not in a habit of endorsing, so it would mean we were changing our method of operation – other than the Mankiller anomaly, which didn’t count because she was a shoo-in, anyway. But our publisher at the time, whom I highly respect, felt it was the right thing to do, given the circumstances. Jason lost, but not because we endorsed him, since he did win the Tahlequah precincts. In my opinion, it’s because his people weren’t able to fan out to all the “cricks and hollers” in all of District 2 like Mullin’s people did. Of course, Mullin had the funds to do that, and thanks to COVID money, he has even more now. Jason didn’t.

Bezos also said, “What presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias. A perception of non-independence.” That’s true, too, because many people cannot distinguish between a news story and an opinion piece, even when the latter is clearly labeled as such. Or they cut off their own noses to spite their faces, canceling subscriptions because they don’t “agree” with the newspaper, even when 
it publishes opposing opinions, like TDP does.

Bezos said ending endorsements is “a principled decision, and it’s the right one.” Maybe, but that “principled decision” should’ve been made months ago – per-haps when Biden stepped out of the race. In fact, one could argue the Post should have never begun endorsing in the first place. That tradition only came about in the wake of the Nixon fiasco. Post staffers felt guilty about not pushing hard enough to stop Watergate in its tracks, and they swore never to let the public down again. But some of the things Trump is accused of doing – and indeed, has provably done and said – are far worse than bugging an office and lying about it, although I realize that’s an oversimplification of what happened. But if polls are any indication, about half of the U.S. electorate doesn’t give a sh*t about Trump’s hijinks. If the glossed epithet, offends you, it shouldn’t; Trump talks that way, so why can’t I?

While WaPo didn’t produce the expected Harris endorsement, it has not held back – so far – in its criticism of Trump. It hasn’t pulled punches on Harris, either. I say “so far” because it’s not outside the realm of possibility that the Post could become what legit journos call a “house organ” – in this case, controlled by the White House. After all, the Post endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016, and subsequently, Bezos lost a hefty contract for his “rocket company,” Blue Origin. There’s no question the Trump administration had a hand in that; Vice President Pence told Blue Origin the White House had a “Washington Post problem.” And Trump made it clear he planned to “screw” (his word, not mine) Amazon as well.

Bezos’ decision to pull the endorsement was unquestionably self-serving. But it could also be self-preserving – for himself, and also the newspaper and its staff. When he was president, Trump called the media – or about 80% of us – the “enemy of the people” something like 2.1 times a day. More recently, he has suggested he would make journalists sign loyalty oaths – to him, not the country – and that we are a “threat to national security.” Pair that with the ruling by a compliant Supreme Court that a president will be held harmless for “official acts” committed while in office, and call me paranoid, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist like those working for Bezos to figure out what could happen. And don’t think the Democrats can save us. Journalists go after them for their malfeasance, too; it wouldn’t be long before they realized shutting us up would be to their advantage.

If you’re OK with any president taking control of the free press, I’ll just say this: You’re not much of an American. 

It’s no secret the newspaper industry is hanging by a thread. Our credibility was already dwindling through a “chicken-or-egg” paradox. Social media offers endless free content masquerading as “news,” and although the vast majority is erroneous or deliberate fabrication by Russian ‘bots, Americans – having lost their collective power of discernment – are accepting it. That means loss of revenue for newspapers, which means it’s tough to keep stellar staff or update equipment, and unseasoned staffers make more mistakes, leading to more loss of revenue and credibility. But the problems accelerated when Trump was in office, both because of his “enemy of the people” rhetoric and his newsprint tariffs. His fans need not defend him; he’d be proud of this achievement. The Founders, however, are rolling in their graves.

But one thing is clear, and that is what the Framers of the Constitution believed in their hearts. Without the Fourth Estate, this country, as we know it, will not survive. In 2017, the Post adopted a motto: “Democracy dies in darkness.” That’s exactly what will happen if the Post and the rest of us go down the tubes.

So I’ll keep subscribing – for the time being. So should you. And you should sub-scribe to TDP, or your hometown newspaper – if you still have one.