Jennifer, was Bezos purchase of the WPOST the ultimate "catch and kill" all along? Was the point in buying it to diminish it so that it would not be the "check and balance" on the political/financial/industry elites? I am so angry about all of this. Katherine Graham must be rolling over in her grave. It has been so dismaying to see media outlets fall into the hands of a very small number of oligarchs.
After the majority of Americans run them out of power. It can happen. We have to follow the example of the faithful in Minnesota who have strongly stood against fascism, figured out ways to get around the occupying force and have rallied the world behind them.
It’s now clear this has become an effort to kill the Post, which is a clear pattern in the Trump regime. Appoint cabinet secretaries to tear down their respective departments; see, McMahon, Kennedy, Bondi, Hegseth, Rubio, et al. But what’s to stop a left of center billionaire, or a consortium of owners, from starting a new Washington newspaper? I canceled my 35 year subscription to the Post last year, but I’d seriously consider supporting a credible upstart!
Seeing the Post destroyed is a source of true grief. It embodied one of the great strengths of American culture, and now it lies in ruins. I maintain my subscription solely so that I can read Carolyn Hax, and I wish every day that she would jump ship to the Atlantic or another place that would welcome her. I respect her loyalty, but it’s embarrassing now to reveal that I have a WaPo subscription. It used to be a small source of pride.
I had to give it up. Not even for Carolyn Hax could I remain. Alexandra Petri is available in other venues. I’ve got the Atlantic, the Contrarian, the Bulwark, the Guardian and Heather Cox Richardson and feel regretful but satisfied. The WaPo as we knew it is gone.
I had been a Post subscriber since the 1990s and read every word of Woodward and Bernstein’s missives during the Watergate era. I was disgusted by Bezos’s tanking his own Editorial Board’s endorsement last October. But the last straw came when Bezos destroyed the Post’s robust comment system in favor of some cutesy scheme starring AI, not the commenter.
Some of you may remember this comment system. Jennifer Rubin’s regular postings drew the best and brightest from across the country several times a week. But Bezos wanted an AI system instead. He tried to use it to sort responses into “relevant” “new to me” “provocative” and some other made-up chicken-shit term.
That system then started REMOVING comments about RFJ, Jr. MAHA, and others it didn’t like. I demanded answers from the Editorial Board — I got none. That’s when I decided the one-way fucked feeling wasn’t something I could stand anymore.
I did not know this. It’s good to know. I thought the whole country had gone crazy - no, now I think Bezos intended us to lose heart. Nope. We will just go read some real news.
The changes to the comment section were the last straw for me, as well. Since it occurred about the same time that they censored their political cartoonist, I was out of there. They had reader surveys that showed the comment section was one of the most popular parts of WaPo. But they chose to inflict a wildly unpopular new "AI" interface onto it. That looked like deliberate destruction of WaPo to me -- and still does.
Yeah, I saw that comment change before I cancelled WaPo. ALL tech platforms censor, and they all lie about it while they're doing so. And censoring by yahoo! and msn is sneaky and pro-fascist, never saying what was wrong but still blocking posts that directly address a point in a story with no "bad" words and no insults. And then they "shadow ban" commenters, not allowing ANY posts and providing no way to contact them or appeal.
All tech bros are basically servants of fascism now.
I canceled the Post at the end of December 2024. I miss the Recipe section. I was still getting emails from Daniela Garza at Eat Voraciously, but today, she said it was the last time she would write the column, so I assume her job was axed. I know that the recipe section is a small thing compared to all the rest, but I still mourn it.
I cancelled my Post online subscription. Everyone I cared to read has left and it is completely hallowed out. The editorial page used to be a powerful voice that made its own news. Sad
When I dropped the Post after Jen and Ann left, I encouraged (in Hax comments) her to leave for Substack or some other platform, as you suggest. Given Carolyn’s not-so-thinly veiled enmity toward the current regime, it appears that she is either contractually unable or simply unwilling to leave her comfort zone. No one knows but CH and she’s not talking.
Actually, she’s talked about it. In short, it seems that she truly respects the historic role of the WaPo, feels strongly about supporting journalists and journalism, and wants to continue being colleagues with the beleaguered journalists who are/were still at the Post and doing good work. A very principled stance.
It is with deep sadness I read about what Bezos has managed to accomplish with the once best newspaper in the US (in my opinion): it's complete and utter destruction. I quit my subscription to THE Post in October 2024, after many years. And I have not bought anything from, or through, Amazon for even longer. Katherine Graham had more balls and spine than Bezos will ever dream of having. She and Ben Bradlee must be spinning in their graves. What a tool he is.
I am beyond sickened at what Bezos has done to the Washington Post, a beloved paper I subscribed to for 40 years. He has taken one of America's crown jewels of journalism and neutered it to please his boss in the White House. It will be his eternal shame. I urge everyone to stop buying from Amazon. It may not be easy but it needs to be done. Bezos needs to pay for his betrayal of American democracy.
Your critique shines a light on exactly what has happened. I think we all share in your sorrow over the Post. I first subscribed to it after Trump won the electoral college in 2016. Remembering the superb investigative reporting of the Watergate years, and all that it led to, I anticipated my subscription would be well-placed. I wasn't entirely wrong. That's what led me to become an ardent, fascinated follower of your thoughts, Jen. I looked forward to your every opinion piece, and still do! Some people do their job because they have to, to earn a living. Others, the great ones, are driven by something more -- a passion for what they do, compelled to make a difference with their life. Greed and self-interest seem to have crumbled the walls that hold our greatest institutions, safeguarding democracy, and preserving the truth. More than ever, we need fair, unbiased arbiters, researching relentlessly to ascertain facts, and reporting the news "the way it is." When truth mattered more than ever, and getting to the bottom of what was happening, with Trump, and his extraordinary ties to Russia, Jeff Bezos revealed his main focus was always monetary. Oligarchs have sold out our country. We must take it back.
Reading the Post has been a morning ritual for 45 years and to watch the slow but steady decline over the last few years has been heartbreaking. Thank heavens, though, for the Contrarians, HCR, Joyce, Katie, Tim Snyder, Mike Nellis, the Atlantic, the Lincoln folks and others who have stepped up to fill the void. Keep up the good work!
If we leave it up to billionaires to run everything from our newspapers to our government then there will not be anything left of us. Allowing these mindless autocrats to completely take control of everything leaves us with no freedom no liberty and above all No democracy. We have already begun down that path. I salute, you Jennifer and Norm and everyone else who has helped to build The Contrarian! Long Live Democracy 🇺🇸
I've seen the odd thoughtful rich person; Abigail Disney comes to mind. But my partner and I are of the mind that wealth is a disease, and that when one gets it, they swiftly lose their empathy. I do have examples professional and public for that. On the Bezos front, though, here is a guy who delivered books out of the trunk of his car when he was starting Amazon. As an author, I loved that he made books accessible on a wide scale. And as an author and editor, I was appalled when he made self-publishing accessible to every asshole on the planet.
For 30 years, I have worked with people who self-publish books. The industry went from field experts and vanity projects to ... lowest common denominator vanity projects. Then, thanks to it all, the mainstream publishing industry consolidated and is, itself, on the verge of collapse, à la Washington Post. Now real artists can't get published unless they have some money. We're back to the times of Cervantes when authors with world-changing ideas had to have a king sponsor them and had to shroud their dissidence. Fortunately, most kings, I guess, don't have the critical-thinking skills to know when they're being trolled. Right, Mr. Quixote?
Warren Buffett seems a decent man. I also like those who use their $ for betterments: Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates, Mackenzie Scott. In the past, Carnegie funded hundred of libraries.
And that began the practice of "discounted" books upon their release, and remainders soon afterward. Sheesh. So ruining the life a good book. Publishers have no choice but to move on.
Like local news publications that disappeared, the disappearance of the neighborhood bookstore was a community loss. The loss of a public library would be as bad.
Do you know I love about new media, like Contrarian on Substack? It has more of an interactive component to it. Not only is its coverage of current events much better, but as a subscriber you join a community bent on doing something! (It is a marketplace of ideas, just like the old timey country stores at the turn of the 20th century!)
I grew up in Charlottesville, VA. My parents followed the news closely. The Post was a valued part of every day. When I moved away, I subscribed to Book World & it arrived weekly in the mail in New Orleans & in Dallas. During Covid it was a lifeline. And the Jan 6 & subsequent prosecutions coverage was unsurpassed. We all mourn the loss of this storied institution.
Jen, a relative's spouse was among those just laid off, he worked as an arts journalist:(.
Well said...no one understands this better than you! Bezos has revealed his ugly oligarch side; in the beginning of buying the WP, he feigned to care about protecting free and excellent journalism. Now, it's obvious he has joined the ranks of the putridly wealthy who care not one wit about people, only extending his numbers of yachts and mansions...Machiavellian to the core!
If he has an ounce of humanity left, he should sell the paper to someone who actually cares about a great institution and the continuance of the free press. Absolutely sickening.
I was a lifelong Post reader until cancelling my subscription last year in the wake of all the editorial changes. These layoffs mark the final death knell of a once great local and national institution. It truly is a sad day.
So sorry to see WaPo fall apart. I stopped shopping at Amazon this year, and unsubbed from the Washington Post. Not much of a protest, but it's what I can do.
For those lamenting the loss of a newspaper sports section, find Sally Jenkins at The Atlantic from time to time. Her articles are always the best of the best--great insights, gets the big picture, and even edits her own writing to a tee. Just a joy to engage with her brainy sports writing. (Take note, Contrarian. We could use a lot more Sally Jenkins in our lives.)
Jennifer, was Bezos purchase of the WPOST the ultimate "catch and kill" all along? Was the point in buying it to diminish it so that it would not be the "check and balance" on the political/financial/industry elites? I am so angry about all of this. Katherine Graham must be rolling over in her grave. It has been so dismaying to see media outlets fall into the hands of a very small number of oligarchs.
The Post has died because of treachery. It may return after the departure of these oligarchs.
LOL when will they "depart"?
After the majority of Americans run them out of power. It can happen. We have to follow the example of the faithful in Minnesota who have strongly stood against fascism, figured out ways to get around the occupying force and have rallied the world behind them.
The loss of real news happened when Bezos bought the post.
If it didn’t start out as a catch and kill on Bezos’ part, that’s certainly what it has become, and he is totally to blame.
see mine above....
Yes. To destroy.
It’s now clear this has become an effort to kill the Post, which is a clear pattern in the Trump regime. Appoint cabinet secretaries to tear down their respective departments; see, McMahon, Kennedy, Bondi, Hegseth, Rubio, et al. But what’s to stop a left of center billionaire, or a consortium of owners, from starting a new Washington newspaper? I canceled my 35 year subscription to the Post last year, but I’d seriously consider supporting a credible upstart!
The Intercept.
Ben Bradlee wouldn't have had it either.
This kill was a long kill.
Seeing the Post destroyed is a source of true grief. It embodied one of the great strengths of American culture, and now it lies in ruins. I maintain my subscription solely so that I can read Carolyn Hax, and I wish every day that she would jump ship to the Atlantic or another place that would welcome her. I respect her loyalty, but it’s embarrassing now to reveal that I have a WaPo subscription. It used to be a small source of pride.
I had to give it up. Not even for Carolyn Hax could I remain. Alexandra Petri is available in other venues. I’ve got the Atlantic, the Contrarian, the Bulwark, the Guardian and Heather Cox Richardson and feel regretful but satisfied. The WaPo as we knew it is gone.
I miss Hax, but I cancelled my subscription when Bezos spiked the Kamala Harris endorsement. I don't regret it.
Bezos is a contemptible POS.
I had been a Post subscriber since the 1990s and read every word of Woodward and Bernstein’s missives during the Watergate era. I was disgusted by Bezos’s tanking his own Editorial Board’s endorsement last October. But the last straw came when Bezos destroyed the Post’s robust comment system in favor of some cutesy scheme starring AI, not the commenter.
Some of you may remember this comment system. Jennifer Rubin’s regular postings drew the best and brightest from across the country several times a week. But Bezos wanted an AI system instead. He tried to use it to sort responses into “relevant” “new to me” “provocative” and some other made-up chicken-shit term.
That system then started REMOVING comments about RFJ, Jr. MAHA, and others it didn’t like. I demanded answers from the Editorial Board — I got none. That’s when I decided the one-way fucked feeling wasn’t something I could stand anymore.
No regrets.
I did not know this. It’s good to know. I thought the whole country had gone crazy - no, now I think Bezos intended us to lose heart. Nope. We will just go read some real news.
The changes to the comment section were the last straw for me, as well. Since it occurred about the same time that they censored their political cartoonist, I was out of there. They had reader surveys that showed the comment section was one of the most popular parts of WaPo. But they chose to inflict a wildly unpopular new "AI" interface onto it. That looked like deliberate destruction of WaPo to me -- and still does.
Yeah, I saw that comment change before I cancelled WaPo. ALL tech platforms censor, and they all lie about it while they're doing so. And censoring by yahoo! and msn is sneaky and pro-fascist, never saying what was wrong but still blocking posts that directly address a point in a story with no "bad" words and no insults. And then they "shadow ban" commenters, not allowing ANY posts and providing no way to contact them or appeal.
All tech bros are basically servants of fascism now.
Dan Rather also has a Substack presence. He's still doing a creditable job of reporting - just as he did from the land of Vietnam.
Thank you! I’m going to find him and subscribe!
I won’t miss the comments, which have gotten more and more mean-spirited in the few past years. I tried not to look, but I’m a weak person.
I canceled the Post at the end of December 2024. I miss the Recipe section. I was still getting emails from Daniela Garza at Eat Voraciously, but today, she said it was the last time she would write the column, so I assume her job was axed. I know that the recipe section is a small thing compared to all the rest, but I still mourn it.
I cancelled my Post online subscription. Everyone I cared to read has left and it is completely hallowed out. The editorial page used to be a powerful voice that made its own news. Sad
I see your point, and Carolyn’s, as you describe it.
When I dropped the Post after Jen and Ann left, I encouraged (in Hax comments) her to leave for Substack or some other platform, as you suggest. Given Carolyn’s not-so-thinly veiled enmity toward the current regime, it appears that she is either contractually unable or simply unwilling to leave her comfort zone. No one knows but CH and she’s not talking.
Actually, she’s talked about it. In short, it seems that she truly respects the historic role of the WaPo, feels strongly about supporting journalists and journalism, and wants to continue being colleagues with the beleaguered journalists who are/were still at the Post and doing good work. A very principled stance.
Democracy Dies in Darkness has changed from masthead to mission statement.
Bezos is the Darkness.
So are the lackeys he hired - William Lewis and Matt Murray.
Excellently stated.
Democracy Dies at the Washington Post. They ought to tell the truth.
It is with deep sadness I read about what Bezos has managed to accomplish with the once best newspaper in the US (in my opinion): it's complete and utter destruction. I quit my subscription to THE Post in October 2024, after many years. And I have not bought anything from, or through, Amazon for even longer. Katherine Graham had more balls and spine than Bezos will ever dream of having. She and Ben Bradlee must be spinning in their graves. What a tool he is.
I am beyond sickened at what Bezos has done to the Washington Post, a beloved paper I subscribed to for 40 years. He has taken one of America's crown jewels of journalism and neutered it to please his boss in the White House. It will be his eternal shame. I urge everyone to stop buying from Amazon. It may not be easy but it needs to be done. Bezos needs to pay for his betrayal of American democracy.
Your critique shines a light on exactly what has happened. I think we all share in your sorrow over the Post. I first subscribed to it after Trump won the electoral college in 2016. Remembering the superb investigative reporting of the Watergate years, and all that it led to, I anticipated my subscription would be well-placed. I wasn't entirely wrong. That's what led me to become an ardent, fascinated follower of your thoughts, Jen. I looked forward to your every opinion piece, and still do! Some people do their job because they have to, to earn a living. Others, the great ones, are driven by something more -- a passion for what they do, compelled to make a difference with their life. Greed and self-interest seem to have crumbled the walls that hold our greatest institutions, safeguarding democracy, and preserving the truth. More than ever, we need fair, unbiased arbiters, researching relentlessly to ascertain facts, and reporting the news "the way it is." When truth mattered more than ever, and getting to the bottom of what was happening, with Trump, and his extraordinary ties to Russia, Jeff Bezos revealed his main focus was always monetary. Oligarchs have sold out our country. We must take it back.
Reading the Post has been a morning ritual for 45 years and to watch the slow but steady decline over the last few years has been heartbreaking. Thank heavens, though, for the Contrarians, HCR, Joyce, Katie, Tim Snyder, Mike Nellis, the Atlantic, the Lincoln folks and others who have stepped up to fill the void. Keep up the good work!
If we leave it up to billionaires to run everything from our newspapers to our government then there will not be anything left of us. Allowing these mindless autocrats to completely take control of everything leaves us with no freedom no liberty and above all No democracy. We have already begun down that path. I salute, you Jennifer and Norm and everyone else who has helped to build The Contrarian! Long Live Democracy 🇺🇸
I've seen the odd thoughtful rich person; Abigail Disney comes to mind. But my partner and I are of the mind that wealth is a disease, and that when one gets it, they swiftly lose their empathy. I do have examples professional and public for that. On the Bezos front, though, here is a guy who delivered books out of the trunk of his car when he was starting Amazon. As an author, I loved that he made books accessible on a wide scale. And as an author and editor, I was appalled when he made self-publishing accessible to every asshole on the planet.
For 30 years, I have worked with people who self-publish books. The industry went from field experts and vanity projects to ... lowest common denominator vanity projects. Then, thanks to it all, the mainstream publishing industry consolidated and is, itself, on the verge of collapse, à la Washington Post. Now real artists can't get published unless they have some money. We're back to the times of Cervantes when authors with world-changing ideas had to have a king sponsor them and had to shroud their dissidence. Fortunately, most kings, I guess, don't have the critical-thinking skills to know when they're being trolled. Right, Mr. Quixote?
The billionaires I can respect are Mark Cuban (my prescriptions have never been cheaper) and Mackenzie Scott. Were that they all in their mold.
Warren Buffett seems a decent man. I also like those who use their $ for betterments: Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates, Mackenzie Scott. In the past, Carnegie funded hundred of libraries.
Bezos and Amazon also shot the neighborhood bookstores in the heart. There was no way that they could keep with the variety and prices offered.
And that began the practice of "discounted" books upon their release, and remainders soon afterward. Sheesh. So ruining the life a good book. Publishers have no choice but to move on.
Like local news publications that disappeared, the disappearance of the neighborhood bookstore was a community loss. The loss of a public library would be as bad.
Bezos is solely to blame for sucking up to Trump.
Tonight only! "Melania: The Boondoggle"
Do you know I love about new media, like Contrarian on Substack? It has more of an interactive component to it. Not only is its coverage of current events much better, but as a subscriber you join a community bent on doing something! (It is a marketplace of ideas, just like the old timey country stores at the turn of the 20th century!)
I grew up in Charlottesville, VA. My parents followed the news closely. The Post was a valued part of every day. When I moved away, I subscribed to Book World & it arrived weekly in the mail in New Orleans & in Dallas. During Covid it was a lifeline. And the Jan 6 & subsequent prosecutions coverage was unsurpassed. We all mourn the loss of this storied institution.
Jen, a relative's spouse was among those just laid off, he worked as an arts journalist:(.
Well said...no one understands this better than you! Bezos has revealed his ugly oligarch side; in the beginning of buying the WP, he feigned to care about protecting free and excellent journalism. Now, it's obvious he has joined the ranks of the putridly wealthy who care not one wit about people, only extending his numbers of yachts and mansions...Machiavellian to the core!
If he has an ounce of humanity left, he should sell the paper to someone who actually cares about a great institution and the continuance of the free press. Absolutely sickening.
Like the recovery from the Trump administrative regime, It would take a long time for The Washington Post to recover, if it ever could.
I suspected we might hear from you today about this. I am so very glad, for all of us, that you are where you are.
Hmmm….maybe some of that $75 million Bezos threw away on “Melania”, could’ve been put to some better use? Y’think?
I was a lifelong Post reader until cancelling my subscription last year in the wake of all the editorial changes. These layoffs mark the final death knell of a once great local and national institution. It truly is a sad day.
So sorry to see WaPo fall apart. I stopped shopping at Amazon this year, and unsubbed from the Washington Post. Not much of a protest, but it's what I can do.
Sadly, many people still buy from Amazon, based on the number of trucks I saw on the road when we were traveling in December.
For those lamenting the loss of a newspaper sports section, find Sally Jenkins at The Atlantic from time to time. Her articles are always the best of the best--great insights, gets the big picture, and even edits her own writing to a tee. Just a joy to engage with her brainy sports writing. (Take note, Contrarian. We could use a lot more Sally Jenkins in our lives.)
Thanks. I like Sally Jenkins, as well, and I'm not normally a sports section reader! Had wondered where else she might start writing.