Jeff Bezos speaks on WaPo drama: We have to 'increase our credibility'

• Jeff Bezos defended The Washington Post's determination to not endorse a statesmanlike candidate.
• Bezos wrote successful his ain newspaper Monday that excessively galore group don't spot nan news media.
• Endorsing Donald Trump aliases Kamala Harris would only adhd to that distrust, Bezos said.

Jeff Bezos defended The Washington Post's determination not to endorse a statesmanlike candidate successful a file published successful his ain newspaper Monday, saying it would create nan cognition of bias successful an property erstwhile group don't spot nan news media.

Bezos, who has owned nan Post since 2013, wrote nan op-ed aft a bid of resignations from nan editorial committee and a reported activity of cancellations after nan insubstantial halted a scheme to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris.

The Post earlier reported that Bezos made nan determination to not people an endorsement. On Monday, Bezos didn't opportunity erstwhile nan determination was made but acknowledged nan firestorm surrounding it.

"I wish we had made nan alteration earlier than we did, successful a infinitesimal further from nan predetermination and nan emotions astir it," Bezos said. "That was inadequate planning, and not immoderate intentional strategy."

The determination besides wasn't a "quid pro quo" to curry favour pinch Donald Trump, Bezos said. He said nan CEO of his abstraction exploration company, Blue Origin, coincidentally met pinch Trump connected nan time of nan announcement.

"I sighed erstwhile I recovered out, because I knew it would supply ammunition to those who would for illustration to framework this arsenic thing different than a opinionated decision," Bezos wrote.

The determination comes amid what Bezos said was nan public's declining spot successful nan news media. He cited caller Gallup polling that showed grounds debased numbers of group spot nan media.

Bezos said newspapers needed to beryllium meticulous — but besides must beryllium believed to beryllium accurate. "We must activity harder to power what we tin power to summation our credibility," he said.

Besides, Bezos said, a newspaper's statesmanlike endorsement wouldn't mean much.

"No undecided voters successful Pennsylvania are going to say, 'I'm going pinch Newspaper A's endorsement.' None. What statesmanlike endorsements really do is create a cognition of bias," he said. "A cognition of non-independence. Ending them is simply a opinionated decision, and it's nan correct one."

His op-ed comes aft nan insubstantial faced unit resignations and aft NPR reported Monday that much than 200,000 group canceled their subscriptions to nan Post, citing 2 group acquainted pinch nan matter. That's astir 8% of its 2.5 cardinal subscribers.

On Friday, nan newspaper's publisher, Will Lewis, initially announced nan Post's decision. It came aft nan Los Angeles Times said it besides would diminution to endorse a candidate successful nan statesmanlike predetermination this year.

The Post didn't instantly respond to a petition for remark from Business Insider.