A spineless Press caves

The Post, the LA Times and The AZ Daliy Star

In 2018, Saudi Arabia’s Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud heard Donald Trump loud and clear when the American President called the press “the enemy of the people”. MBS sensed the new president would roll over and look the other way when Saudi hit men took bone saws to the corpse of Saudi journalist Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi in Istanbul. Khashoggi had been a columnist for Middle East Eye and The Washington Post until he walked into an embassy in Istanbul and was ambushed and dismembered.

The Saudi state branded him an “Enemy of the People.”

And The People yawned and scrolled Twitter.

“And then when they came for the journalists…well, that was the last anyone heard of anything.”

Earlier this week we learned the Los Angeles Times will not endorse a candidate on their editorial pages this election cycle. Patrick Soon-Shiong, the billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Times killed the planned endorsement piece. The editorials editor resigned in protest. Good for that journalist and good look finding an opening in the dying print industry. Good luck with your blog, vlog or substack. The billionaire owner will simply buy a starving hack to replace you.

And The People yawned and scrolled Tik Tok.

On Friday the Washington Post posted this:“The Washington Post’s editorial board will not make an endorsement in this year’s presidential contest, for the first time in 36 years, or in future presidential races.”

The squelching of the Harris endorsement was made by The Washington Post’s owner Jeff Bezos. The bullshit explanation was "we are returning to our roots." Ah, money. The root of everything. The truth is Bezos caved because he feared a second Trump presidency and the retribution that would be sure to come.

Had Bezos been stung?

Amazon sued Trump back in 2019, claiming it had lost a $10 billion cloud computing contract with the Pentagon to Microsoft because Trump according to a CNBC report had used ‘improper pressure’ ... “to harm his perceived political enemy.”

And The People yawned and scrolled clips from Fox.

Save your indignant rage over gutless bottom line billionaires who don’t give a damn about the democracy that harbors their alleged Free Press. Save it for your hometown newspaper.

Here in Tucson The Arizona Daily Star will not be endorsing any candidates on their opinion pages. When it comes to elections they have no opinions. Year round they have opinions on traffic lights and potholes, but elections are just too touchy for yet another coward terrified of upseting their advertisers and readers by endorsing the candidate in this election who is least akin to Adolf Hitler.

I love the paper I once called the “grey battleship”. I had an amazing career there with remarkable journalists blessed with fire and integrity. A few greats hang on, bless them.

In this time of great peril in our nation’s history such newspapers are sad diminished things. Worthless peddlers of valueless pulp devoid of character. Spineless. Gutless. Cowards. Moved by fear rather than joy for the good fight.

Harry Truman once said, “If you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen.”

I’d amend that sentiment today. If you can’t stand the heat get out of the newspaper business. While it still exists.