WaPo’s editorial board members step down following owner’s decision to end endorsements in presidential races
One third of The Washington Post’s nine-member editorial board stepped down in the wake of the decision by the newspaper’s owner and publisher to end endorsements in presidential races, reports The Post.
The Post report said the board members — all of whom have said they intend to remain at the newspaper in other roles — include David E. Hoffman, a 42-year Washington Post veteran who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for columns on autocracy the day before publisher William Lewis “shocked the board by announcing the decision to cease a long-standing practice of issuing endorsements in presidential races.” Board member Molly Roberts confirmed that she is stepping down. The third board member is Mili Mitra — who also serves as director of audience for The Post’s opinions section.
According to The Post: “A draft of the endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate, in her race against the Republican nominee, former president Donald Trump, had been written but was closely held by opinion editor David Shipley, and had not been shared with the full board before Lewis’s announcement, according to two board members who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions. According to reporting by The Post and other news organizations, The Post’s owner, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, made the decision to end the endorsement policy. The Post’s editorial board is part of the newspaper’s opinions section, which operates independently from the staff that provides news coverage.”
More here.
