Trump intensifica sus ataques contra un prensa debilitada

En un hashtag de 2015, Jeff Bezos sugirió enviar a Donald Trump al espacio exterior como respuesta a las publicaciones en redes sociales del entonces candidato presidencial, quien acusaba al fundador de Amazon de haber comprado The Washington Post para encubrir la evasión fiscal de la compañía. Este mes, los titulares volvieron a relacionar los nombres de ambos magnates. Bezos había anunciado su intención de contribuir con 1 millón de dólares a la inauguración del presidente electo, quien ha comenzado a cumplir sus amenazas de “enderezar a la prensa” a través de demandas.

In the days running up to the election, Bezos killed the Post’s traditional presidential candidate endorsement. He did so after an op-ed supporting Kamala Harris had been drafted, and against protest from the paper’s editors. Bezos justified the decision in an article published by the newspaper, writing that “what presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias” among readers. In reality, his decision led to a different result: the cancelation of more than 250,000 subscriptions. Last week, Bezos got even cozier with his one-time rival by attending a dinner at Mar-a-Lago with Trump and Elon Musk, another of the Amazon founder’s longtime foes.

This change in attitude has been interpreted in Washington as proof that the Post, at least on the editorial side, does not seem willing to stand up to Trump as much as it did during his first presidency. Then, its editor was Martin Baron. Today, amid a phenomenal crisis occasioned by the signing of its new CEO, Will Lewis, who once worked for the conservative mogul Rupert Murdoch, the newspaper is unable to find a journalist willing to head its newsroom. According to Axios, at least two candidates for the position removed themselves from consideration when they learned of the ownership’s plans for the newspaper.