Washington Post sparks fury over decision not to endorse

Fury and shock ripped through liberal America last weekend after news that the Washington Post, home of the Watergate scandal exposé, will not endorse Kamala Harris for president.

- Vanessa Thorpe and Edward Helmore

But angry responses were quickly replaced by two questions: how did it happen, and how could readers best protest?

At the centre of the storm is William Lewis, the British newspaperman who became Washington Post publisher and CEO in January. When Lewis broke the decision to staff last week, he said the newspaper, was just moving back to its roots in declining to back a presidential candidate. This was a return to the convention of non-endorsement the Post gave up 48 years ago to support the Democrat Jimmy Carter.

Among early public reactions was a call to unsubscribe, alongside a string of attacks on the failure to take a stand against Donald Trump, including from comedian Steve Martin, actor Mark Hamill and the Watergate journalists, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.

Woodward and Bernstein said: "This decision 11 days out from the 2024 presidential election ignores the Washington Post's own reportorial evidence on the threat Donald Trump poses to democracy.