Washington Post Cancellations Reach 250K, 10% of Digital Subscribers

Facts

• NPR's David Folkenflik has reported that The Washington Post has lost over 250K subscribers, approximately 10% of its digital readership, since the news outlet chose not to endorse a 2024 US presidential candidate last week.^[1]
• In January 2021, The Post had a peak digital readership of 3M, before declining to approximately 2.5M prior to the announcement to no longer endorse a presidential candidate.^[2]
• Amazon owner Jeff Bezos has owned the paper since 2013, and The Post has twice publicly endorsed Democratic candidates running against Donald Trump, in 2016 and in 2020.^[3][4]
• In an op-ed released on Monday, Bezos cited Gallup polling showing low trust in media and journalism to claim that the paper had to 'work harder' to increase its credibility, and said he would 'not allow' The Post to 'stay on autopilot and fade into irrelevance.'^[5]
• The paper's former editor-at-large Robert Kagan, who resigned last week following the decision to not endorse a candidate, has alleged that Bezos entered a 'quid pro quo' agreement with the Trump campaign to kill The Post's endorsement of Harris — a claim that has been denied.^[6]
• According to Gallup's most recent data, 31% of US adults trust mass media a 'great' or 'fair amount' — the lowest since polling began in 1972 — with 33% trusting mass media 'not very much' and 36% not at all. Trust in media is 54% among Democrats, but falls to 12% among Republicans.^[7]

Sources: ^[1]NPR Online News, ^[2]Washington Post (a), ^[3]Associated Press, ^[4]New York Post, ^[5]Washington Post (b), ^[6]Verity and ^[7]Gallup.com.

Narratives

• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by The Daily Beast. Jeff Bezos's cowardly decision is receiving the backlash it deserves. With 250K and counting already unsubscribed, the incredibly unpopular choice (both publicly and internally) to no longer endorse a presidential candidate raises questions concerning Bezos and publisher Will Lewis's judgement and integrity. Readers seek to engage in opinion and support voices that fight for what they believe in, a concept that the paper has fundamentally misunderstood at their own expense.
• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by A Media Operator. While the timing of Bezos's decision — less than two weeks out from an election — may have been poorly planned, the decision to move The Post away from making presidential endorsements is certainly the right one. With low trust in media fueling an existential crisis for the industry, the paper is enduring short-term pain in order to fulfill a long-term ambition of expanding its credibility and readership across the political spectrum.

Predictions