The WashPo has now lost over 200,000 subscribers, 8%+ of their base, which will translate into more layoffs (I think they lost $77 million last year) across the board, not just editorial staff. I hope people are aware of much this hurts people who had nothing to do with the decision and, in fact, may have disagreed with it themselves.
That's the conundrum readers face. Many people I know have canceled their long-time subscriptions to their local newspaper because it is not as good as it used to be, but by canceling they also precipitate the decline. Tough call.
Amen. Let me know when you figure it out because I sure wrestle with it. And I'm married to a journalist! BTW, I have not canceled our subscription to WashPo for this reason although I am truly disgusted with Bezos.
From a consumer standpoint, it's hard to justify skyrocketing prices for shrinking quality and quantity, even to a trained journalist like myself. When the Post-Star announced it would shrink from 7 days a week to 3, it also doubled its price. I complained and got a deeply discounted price. That of course seemed to confirm to me that the original price was inflated. The "standard" prices is now more than the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, which publishes six days a week, twice as often. I don't feel good about this as a supporter of local journalism (I subscribe to four local papers and three regional magazines) and I'm willing to pay for journalism but it needs to be reasonably priced for what is provided. Truly a death spiral.
I cancelled my subscription to WaPo and used the money to buy a subscription to Marc Elias's Democracy Docket. I can't justify giving money to an organization that is controlled by a fascist supporting oligarch. I am proud to give money to an organization that works diligently to protect democracy.
A lot of people who had nothing to do with the decision would be hurt—losing your job is a pretty big deal. And the WashPo is chump change for Bezos...he's not hurt at all.
Re the big media non-endorsements, it sounds as though you hit the nail on the head with your reference to the two billionaires likely being fearful that their other businesses might be hurt by an endorsement of a candidate who then lost. It HAS been oft-discussed that a major Bezos interest was adversely affected as a result of the Post’s liberal leanings seven or eight years ago. But here is a much more obscure non endorsement reason that cropped up shortly before I took a reporting job more than 50 years ago with the conservative 300,000 circulation St.Louis Globe-Democrat. The then major Missouri paper, owned by the Newhouse chain, was identified as a leading conservative voice in the Midwest with staffers like Pat Buchanan and Don Hesse. In 1964, the paper was editorially very supportive of Republican Barry Goldwater, running vs. President Johnson. But then after the Newhouse family made a multi million dollar donation to what became the Newhouse (communications) School at Syracuse University -AND LBJ went in August, 1964 to Syracuse to speak at the Newhouse School, no Globe-Democrat Presidential endorsement emerged, despite the fact that the paper was simpatico with Goldwater. To be honest, as I repeatedly heard the story a few years later even as an enthusiastic backer of an independent press, I sort of got the politics of the decision - or non decision.
"The Post also saw an outcry from readers with 2,000 readers canceling subscriptions...."
NPR reported that 200,000 readers cancelled their Post digital subscriptions. or about 8 percent of the 2.5 million total subscribers of both print and digital. That's quite a number for a paper that's is reportedly lost $77 million last year.
It's disappointing to see the owner of The Washington Post, a paper credited with coining the term "McCarthyism" in 1950, with the courage to publish the pentagon Papers and its investigations into Watergate, give in to the fear of political retribution. And I understand the anger felt by many subscribers. But I'm not sure that cancelling subscriptions for the paper, a paper that still does strong reporting in Washington but is financially weak, is the best tactic. We need all the quality journalism we can get, now more than ever.
I've read that an alternative tactic is to cancel subscriptions to Amazon Prime. That would still send a message to The Washington Post's owner, but without depriving the Post of needed revenue.
You make good points. However, may I suggest that instead of "fear of political retribution," you say give in to their "cold hearted, calculated desire for lucrative government contracts?"
Sounds like Project 2025 is on schedule. I'm terrified. Kudos to the over 6,000 people in Warren county who have taken part in Early voting or already sent it Absentee ballots.
Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.
Anticipatory obedience is a political tragedy. Perhaps rulers did not initially know that citizens were willing to compromise this value or that principle. Perhaps a new regime did not at first have the direct means of influencing citizens one way or another. After the German elections of 1932, which brought Nazis into government, or the Czechoslovak elections of 1946, where communists were victorious, the next crucial step was anticipatory obedience. Because enough people in both cases voluntarily extended their services to the new leaders, Nazis and communists alike realized that they could move quickly toward a full regime change. The first heedless acts of conformity could not then be reversed.
In early 1938, Adolf Hitler, by then securely in power in Germany, was threatening to annex neighboring Austria. After the Austrian chancellor conceded, it was the Austrians’ anticipatory obedience that decided the fate of Austrian Jews. Local Austrian Nazis captured Jews and forced...
We should be encouraged by the people who struggle and survive. Theses men who have been denied freedoms of movement, presence of friends and loved ones by incarceration.Says so much for the true spirit of what it means to be human. The physical world and consumerism is empty and lonely. Money doesn't satisfy. How amazing the lack of excess, fiills a gap within us. Speaks to the unseen so strongly. God is unseen we should seek this more vigorously. We are here to be agents of God's light.
Elise Stefanik is a cog in the machine the deep state Trumpn has vowed to drain.
Everyone who voted for Trump or is silent to Trump's lie is complicit in killing democracy.
Paula Collins is right, there will be a list of enemies from within. The darkness she promotes as light.
Trump mirrors what he sees. Then he is the opposite of that. Milo Yiannopolis is the same weird caricature. A gay white man by his own freedom to be so. In a relationship with a black man. Then he spews the anti semitic and racist views to colleges. And this evil takes breath and begins to live. Grow even as Trump's line after Charlottesville.
There are good people on both sides of this.
I beg to differ.
I wrote a essay for a history test in like 10th grade. With a moment of clarity it dawned on me that Hitler was good at what he did.
As General Kelly stated as well what he did was not good. Trump is the opposite of everything he touches. He's evil.
There is an entire conversation that needs to be had about prison reform. Victims want their pound of flesh, but that just seems to perpetuate the need for prisons. I remember people being outraged that inmates could get a college education but regular folks were going into debt to get their kids into college. Ultimately, it seems Departments of Correction should be about reform and not punishment. Now I sound like a bleeding heart liberal.
Exactly! We cannot just continue putting individuals in captivity and not making an effort to really rehabilitate them. The majority of people in prisons are NOT there for the rest of their lives - there is an end date. How can anyone think it makes sense to just lock them up - keep them for a period of time and "turn them loose"? With no ability or reason to make a better life for themselves? Of course, it would be a really good thing if clearing an innocent persons name didnt appear to more difficult than convicting them in the first place - looking at the number of people that has happened to.
Wow! The press, owned or influenced by very rich people is practicing anticipatory obedience. When I was young, I heard the term "yellow press" often, and your examples definitely point to cowardice, particularly since the former president made his point over and over, that the press is "the enemy of the people". Are we readers now participating in "underground" conspiracies"? That's what dictators have claimed in other parts of the world. This danger to free speech is very real. Thank you, Ken for your steadfast research and alarms.
months ago, when hardly anyone had heard the name Paula Collins, I predicted she would receive 38%-42% of the vote against Stefanik.
38% would represent a baseline anti-Stefanik vote and Stefanik would trumpet her 62% win.
But if Stefanik’s tally dips below 60% of the vote it is a troubling signal of her weakness in the district despite a massive advantage of money, incumbency, and name recognition.
42% for Collins would signal Stefanik’s weakness in the district since it would likely mean that turnout for Stefanik will have dropped and her support for Trump has turned her base against her.
43% for Collins would be a stunning result and would show national Democrats that Stefanik is not as strong as she appears, that she would be vulnerable in the next election.
Mike makes some good points here. I think local people notice when a politician gets a little too big for their britches. Her ambivalence toward the local folks and problems should make people at best "Unenthusiastic" about voting for her. How long are Donald Trump's coattails in upstate New York? I guess we are going to find out.
Trump, if re-elected, has already told us what he'll do to his "enemies". Aileen Cannon for Supreme Court? Cannon was deemed "unqualified" for her appointment to the federal bench. So far, Cannon hasn't disappointed Trump. Trump campaign has distanced themselves from (comedian) Tony Hinchliffe for his remarks about Puerto Rico "garbage". Trump has disparaged our cities such as Detroit and Philly. Will it matter to half of the country? America is marching towards a cliff with no guardrails. Scary times indeed.
Don't forget Florida has over 1,000,000 Puerto Ricans and Haitians as well. The republican Governor of Puerto Rico says he will vote for Trump only if Trump apologizes. I'm sure there'll be a heartfelt apology for the governor. Maybe Trump will toss in a few rolls of paper towels as well. No hard feelings, governor.
When the Chief operates like a mobster, the subordinates live in fear. Tragic that what was Katherine Graham's Washington Post has been subordinated to the Orange Mobster.
Bless you Paula, for your integrity and your courage. I'm hoping that by 2026, C.D. 21 will come to its senses and see that Our Elise is out only for Our Elise, and your turn will come.
It's time worn but appropos. If you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem. Cancel your WAPO subscriptions, or you are also part of the problem.
“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” - Elie Wiesel
So true!
Put me on the list too.
Me as well.
The WashPo has now lost over 200,000 subscribers, 8%+ of their base, which will translate into more layoffs (I think they lost $77 million last year) across the board, not just editorial staff. I hope people are aware of much this hurts people who had nothing to do with the decision and, in fact, may have disagreed with it themselves.
That's the conundrum readers face. Many people I know have canceled their long-time subscriptions to their local newspaper because it is not as good as it used to be, but by canceling they also precipitate the decline. Tough call.
Amen. Let me know when you figure it out because I sure wrestle with it. And I'm married to a journalist! BTW, I have not canceled our subscription to WashPo for this reason although I am truly disgusted with Bezos.
From a consumer standpoint, it's hard to justify skyrocketing prices for shrinking quality and quantity, even to a trained journalist like myself. When the Post-Star announced it would shrink from 7 days a week to 3, it also doubled its price. I complained and got a deeply discounted price. That of course seemed to confirm to me that the original price was inflated. The "standard" prices is now more than the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, which publishes six days a week, twice as often. I don't feel good about this as a supporter of local journalism (I subscribe to four local papers and three regional magazines) and I'm willing to pay for journalism but it needs to be reasonably priced for what is provided. Truly a death spiral.
I cancelled my subscription to WaPo and used the money to buy a subscription to Marc Elias's Democracy Docket. I can't justify giving money to an organization that is controlled by a fascist supporting oligarch. I am proud to give money to an organization that works diligently to protect democracy.
Marc Elias rocks for sure; he's a hero.
U hate to say this..but I hope they close their doors to get rid of Bezos.
A lot of people who had nothing to do with the decision would be hurt—losing your job is a pretty big deal. And the WashPo is chump change for Bezos...he's not hurt at all.
The subscribers' virtual boycott may spill over to Bezos's Amazon.
We will stay organized for you Paula! But I am hopeful too. I didn’t make it to Crandall, but did go vote early. #adkdemocrats
Me too!
Re the big media non-endorsements, it sounds as though you hit the nail on the head with your reference to the two billionaires likely being fearful that their other businesses might be hurt by an endorsement of a candidate who then lost. It HAS been oft-discussed that a major Bezos interest was adversely affected as a result of the Post’s liberal leanings seven or eight years ago. But here is a much more obscure non endorsement reason that cropped up shortly before I took a reporting job more than 50 years ago with the conservative 300,000 circulation St.Louis Globe-Democrat. The then major Missouri paper, owned by the Newhouse chain, was identified as a leading conservative voice in the Midwest with staffers like Pat Buchanan and Don Hesse. In 1964, the paper was editorially very supportive of Republican Barry Goldwater, running vs. President Johnson. But then after the Newhouse family made a multi million dollar donation to what became the Newhouse (communications) School at Syracuse University -AND LBJ went in August, 1964 to Syracuse to speak at the Newhouse School, no Globe-Democrat Presidential endorsement emerged, despite the fact that the paper was simpatico with Goldwater. To be honest, as I repeatedly heard the story a few years later even as an enthusiastic backer of an independent press, I sort of got the politics of the decision - or non decision.
Thank you for the clear concise analysis of the crises we are facing as a nation.
"The Post also saw an outcry from readers with 2,000 readers canceling subscriptions...."
NPR reported that 200,000 readers cancelled their Post digital subscriptions. or about 8 percent of the 2.5 million total subscribers of both print and digital. That's quite a number for a paper that's is reportedly lost $77 million last year.
It's disappointing to see the owner of The Washington Post, a paper credited with coining the term "McCarthyism" in 1950, with the courage to publish the pentagon Papers and its investigations into Watergate, give in to the fear of political retribution. And I understand the anger felt by many subscribers. But I'm not sure that cancelling subscriptions for the paper, a paper that still does strong reporting in Washington but is financially weak, is the best tactic. We need all the quality journalism we can get, now more than ever.
I've read that an alternative tactic is to cancel subscriptions to Amazon Prime. That would still send a message to The Washington Post's owner, but without depriving the Post of needed revenue.
Yes, do both. We need to stop supporting those undermining democracy with our personal and taxpayer dollars.
I like the idea of canceling Prime instead, but people really like that free delivery.
Actually you can free delivery on orders of $25 or more.
I agree wholeheartedly!
You make good points. However, may I suggest that instead of "fear of political retribution," you say give in to their "cold hearted, calculated desire for lucrative government contracts?"
Sounds like Project 2025 is on schedule. I'm terrified. Kudos to the over 6,000 people in Warren county who have taken part in Early voting or already sent it Absentee ballots.
The first rule of Tim Snyder's "On Tyranny" (https://timothysnyder.org/on-tyranny):
Do not obey in advance.
Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.
Anticipatory obedience is a political tragedy. Perhaps rulers did not initially know that citizens were willing to compromise this value or that principle. Perhaps a new regime did not at first have the direct means of influencing citizens one way or another. After the German elections of 1932, which brought Nazis into government, or the Czechoslovak elections of 1946, where communists were victorious, the next crucial step was anticipatory obedience. Because enough people in both cases voluntarily extended their services to the new leaders, Nazis and communists alike realized that they could move quickly toward a full regime change. The first heedless acts of conformity could not then be reversed.
In early 1938, Adolf Hitler, by then securely in power in Germany, was threatening to annex neighboring Austria. After the Austrian chancellor conceded, it was the Austrians’ anticipatory obedience that decided the fate of Austrian Jews. Local Austrian Nazis captured Jews and forced...
200,000 cancellations at the WaPo as of yesterday.
I wrote this piece on Sunday afternoon and never saw the new numbers on Monday so that is pretty shocking.
WOW..that many in just one weekend...GREAT!
We should be encouraged by the people who struggle and survive. Theses men who have been denied freedoms of movement, presence of friends and loved ones by incarceration.Says so much for the true spirit of what it means to be human. The physical world and consumerism is empty and lonely. Money doesn't satisfy. How amazing the lack of excess, fiills a gap within us. Speaks to the unseen so strongly. God is unseen we should seek this more vigorously. We are here to be agents of God's light.
Elise Stefanik is a cog in the machine the deep state Trumpn has vowed to drain.
Everyone who voted for Trump or is silent to Trump's lie is complicit in killing democracy.
Paula Collins is right, there will be a list of enemies from within. The darkness she promotes as light.
Trump mirrors what he sees. Then he is the opposite of that. Milo Yiannopolis is the same weird caricature. A gay white man by his own freedom to be so. In a relationship with a black man. Then he spews the anti semitic and racist views to colleges. And this evil takes breath and begins to live. Grow even as Trump's line after Charlottesville.
There are good people on both sides of this.
I beg to differ.
I wrote a essay for a history test in like 10th grade. With a moment of clarity it dawned on me that Hitler was good at what he did.
As General Kelly stated as well what he did was not good. Trump is the opposite of everything he touches. He's evil.
Vote wisely.
Washington Post what a sad day.
John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God"
There is an entire conversation that needs to be had about prison reform. Victims want their pound of flesh, but that just seems to perpetuate the need for prisons. I remember people being outraged that inmates could get a college education but regular folks were going into debt to get their kids into college. Ultimately, it seems Departments of Correction should be about reform and not punishment. Now I sound like a bleeding heart liberal.
Exactly! We cannot just continue putting individuals in captivity and not making an effort to really rehabilitate them. The majority of people in prisons are NOT there for the rest of their lives - there is an end date. How can anyone think it makes sense to just lock them up - keep them for a period of time and "turn them loose"? With no ability or reason to make a better life for themselves? Of course, it would be a really good thing if clearing an innocent persons name didnt appear to more difficult than convicting them in the first place - looking at the number of people that has happened to.
It's called the "Department of Corrections" for a reason.
What, people want the prisons to be graduate schools for criminals, instead?
Some seem to want that.
Wow! The press, owned or influenced by very rich people is practicing anticipatory obedience. When I was young, I heard the term "yellow press" often, and your examples definitely point to cowardice, particularly since the former president made his point over and over, that the press is "the enemy of the people". Are we readers now participating in "underground" conspiracies"? That's what dictators have claimed in other parts of the world. This danger to free speech is very real. Thank you, Ken for your steadfast research and alarms.
From Tim Snyder's book "On Tyranny:"
Do not obey in advance.
months ago, when hardly anyone had heard the name Paula Collins, I predicted she would receive 38%-42% of the vote against Stefanik.
38% would represent a baseline anti-Stefanik vote and Stefanik would trumpet her 62% win.
But if Stefanik’s tally dips below 60% of the vote it is a troubling signal of her weakness in the district despite a massive advantage of money, incumbency, and name recognition.
42% for Collins would signal Stefanik’s weakness in the district since it would likely mean that turnout for Stefanik will have dropped and her support for Trump has turned her base against her.
43% for Collins would be a stunning result and would show national Democrats that Stefanik is not as strong as she appears, that she would be vulnerable in the next election.
Imagine a 45% vote for Collins!
Mike makes some good points here. I think local people notice when a politician gets a little too big for their britches. Her ambivalence toward the local folks and problems should make people at best "Unenthusiastic" about voting for her. How long are Donald Trump's coattails in upstate New York? I guess we are going to find out.
Trump, if re-elected, has already told us what he'll do to his "enemies". Aileen Cannon for Supreme Court? Cannon was deemed "unqualified" for her appointment to the federal bench. So far, Cannon hasn't disappointed Trump. Trump campaign has distanced themselves from (comedian) Tony Hinchliffe for his remarks about Puerto Rico "garbage". Trump has disparaged our cities such as Detroit and Philly. Will it matter to half of the country? America is marching towards a cliff with no guardrails. Scary times indeed.
The Trump folks didn't realize how many hispanic voters were in places like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Don't forget Florida has over 1,000,000 Puerto Ricans and Haitians as well. The republican Governor of Puerto Rico says he will vote for Trump only if Trump apologizes. I'm sure there'll be a heartfelt apology for the governor. Maybe Trump will toss in a few rolls of paper towels as well. No hard feelings, governor.
When the Chief operates like a mobster, the subordinates live in fear. Tragic that what was Katherine Graham's Washington Post has been subordinated to the Orange Mobster.
Bless you Paula, for your integrity and your courage. I'm hoping that by 2026, C.D. 21 will come to its senses and see that Our Elise is out only for Our Elise, and your turn will come.
It's time worn but appropos. If you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem. Cancel your WAPO subscriptions, or you are also part of the problem.