The Post’s Dilemma: Democracy Dies in Darkness
The Washington Post, a U.S. newspaper that has contributed to American citizens' “right to know” through its numerous reports, is facing drastic cuts in personnel. Hundreds of employees, amounting to about one-third of the staff, are being targeted for cuts, scaling back a broad range of departments, such as international reporting and regional coverage.
In the backdrop of this predicament, although the rise of social media and the shift away from existing media has changed the environment of the entire news industry, The New York Times continues to be in good shape. But in the case of The Washington Post, the betrayal of its role as a monitor of politics has alienated readers.
Both newspapers have been leaders in journalism. In the 1970s, both publications reported on the Pentagon Papers, a secret government report that noted the realities of the Vietnam War. The Supreme Court acknowledged the importance of freedom of press, declining to grant an injunction request from then-President Richard Nixon's administration.
Immediately afterward, The Washington Post exposed Nixon with its coverage on the Watergate scandal, which forced him to resign.
The paper fell into financial difficulties due to its slowness in adapting to a digital format, but even after Amazon founder Jeff Bezos acquired it in 2013, it did not change its posture on monitoring politics.
Immediately following the start of President Donald Trump's first administration, the Post adopted a slogan, “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” The paper investigated many of the suspicions surrounding Trump, which the administration tried to conceal. The worldwide subscriber base expanded via the internet, and the paper's work improved, with the largest number of reporters in its more than 140-year history.
The editor-in-chief at that time, Martin Baron, recalled that even though the way the paper communicated had changed because of digital capabilities, its stance toward reporting had not.
The Post's servility toward politics has become clear since the 2024 election, when a Trump comeback seemed very likely. Until then, the paper endorsed the Democratic Party's candidate, but due to Bezos' decision, it announced that it would be shelving any declaration of support. The move was viewed as a betrayal, leading the editor-in-chief to resign and many readers to part ways with the paper.
It is clear that Bezos is once again prioritizing a revamp of the deteriorating Post's work and avoiding a decisive confrontation with Trump, but he has fallen into a vicious cycle of accelerating the publication's downturn.
From the founding of the U.S. in 1776, freedom of the press has been viewed as a core principle of democracy, guaranteed by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The harsh reality of the U.S. is that The Washington Post, which has fallen into financial difficulty, has renounced its monitoring of politics. In order to prevent democracy from dying in darkness, we, the Japanese press, must take that reality as a key lesson.
In the backdrop of this predicament, although the rise of social media and the shift away from existing media has changed the environment of the entire news industry, The New York Times continues to be in good shape. But in the case of The Washington Post, the betrayal of its role as a monitor of politics has alienated readers.
Both newspapers have been leaders in journalism. In the 1970s, both publications reported on the Pentagon Papers, a secret government report that noted the realities of the Vietnam War. The Supreme Court acknowledged the importance of freedom of press, declining to grant an injunction request from then-President Richard Nixon's administration.
Immediately afterward, The Washington Post exposed Nixon with its coverage on the Watergate scandal, which forced him to resign.
The paper fell into financial difficulties due to its slowness in adapting to a digital format, but even after Amazon founder Jeff Bezos acquired it in 2013, it did not change its posture on monitoring politics.
Immediately following the start of President Donald Trump's first administration, the Post adopted a slogan, “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” The paper investigated many of the suspicions surrounding Trump, which the administration tried to conceal. The worldwide subscriber base expanded via the internet, and the paper's work improved, with the largest number of reporters in its more than 140-year history.
The editor-in-chief at that time, Martin Baron, recalled that even though the way the paper communicated had changed because of digital capabilities, its stance toward reporting had not.
The Post's servility toward politics has become clear since the 2024 election, when a Trump comeback seemed very likely. Until then, the paper endorsed the Democratic Party's candidate, but due to Bezos' decision, it announced that it would be shelving any declaration of support. The move was viewed as a betrayal, leading the editor-in-chief to resign and many readers to part ways with the paper.
It is clear that Bezos is once again prioritizing a revamp of the deteriorating Post's work and avoiding a decisive confrontation with Trump, but he has fallen into a vicious cycle of accelerating the publication's downturn.
From the founding of the U.S. in 1776, freedom of the press has been viewed as a core principle of democracy, guaranteed by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The harsh reality of the U.S. is that The Washington Post, which has fallen into financial difficulty, has renounced its monitoring of politics. In order to prevent democracy from dying in darkness, we, the Japanese press, must take that reality as a key lesson.
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