To endorse or not to endorse

Two major national news outlets, The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, have decided not to endorse a presidential candidate this election. The decision has resulted in resignations and subscription cancellations.

Washington Post columnist Robert Kagan resigned in protest, while LA Times editorials editor Mariel Garza left the outlet.

Founded in 1877, The Post first endorsed a candidate in 1976. Newspaper CEO William Lewis said the latest decision was a return to its “roots of not endorsing presidential candidates” and meant to encourage readers to make their own choices without the paper’s influence.

The newspapers’ editorial boards were told to cancel opinion pieces. The Post was informed on Friday, a day after two of its opinion writers, David Hoffman and Vladimir Kara-Murza, received Pulitzer Prizes in New York.

The decision by the two media publishers was made by their owners, Jeff Bezos of the Washington Post and Patrick Soon-Shiong of the LA Times, who are worried about potential backlash from Donald Trump if he wins the presidency.

Several critics say that the move shows how ownership is influencing editorial decisions. According to Kagan, the decision is “a sort of preemptive bending of the knee to who they may think is the probable winner.”