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00:00A debate that is raging in the United States and having reverberations across the world
00:07is the Washington Post decision not to endorse a presidential candidate after decades of
00:12doing so.
00:14Jeff Bezos, the founder and owner of Amazon, who also owns the newspaper, decided suddenly
00:19just days ago that the Post would no longer endorse any of the candidates.
00:23Now, that's been a practice that the Post and many other American papers have had in
00:28place for nearly a century now.
00:30Now, why did Bezos decide to do this?
00:33Many believe it has a lot to do with his business interests and the fear that if Trump comes
00:38to the White House in particular, that he didn't want to face Donald Trump's retaliation
00:43or vengeful nature.
00:44And so he, like another proprietor, the owner of the LA Times, who also has huge business
00:50interests, both decided it was better to play safe and not to endorse anyone.
00:54And both papers, incidentally, were on the verge of endorsing Kamala Harris for president.
00:59Now, it's also raised ethical questions about journalism itself.
01:03Should journalists, should newspapers, media organizations be taking political sides anywhere
01:09in the world?
01:10Ideally, no.
01:11I have always found this practice of endorsements by US and even UK newspapers a rather strange
01:17one because we grew up believing that journalism was really about sitting on the sidelines,
01:23telling the story, letting people make up their minds and not endorsing a particular
01:27political point of view.
01:29But these are different times.
01:31Journalism isn't the same.
01:32And you do have a tradition in the US in particular, where the editorial boards of newspapers are
01:37separate from the newsrooms that actually report on stories.
01:41And these editorial boards then decide on endorsements.
01:43They decide on opinion pieces, etc.
01:46And they're actually separated from the day to day functioning of the newsroom.
01:49Of course, many people who read these newspapers may not necessarily know about this distinction,
01:56which is a gray area.
01:57But these are extraordinary times.
01:59This election in the US is a make or break one in so many different ways, where lies,
02:04misinformation, disinformation, and the very value of American democracy in a sense is
02:08at stake.
02:10Journalists today are no longer required to stay on the fence.
02:14Journalists today need to take a stand.
02:15They need to call out the truth.
02:17They need to call out lies.
02:18They need to call out misinformation and call a spade a spade.
02:22And that's why perhaps this move by Jeff Bezos has only spurred more suspicion about mainstream
02:29media.
02:30The fact that the Washington Post lost more than 250,000 subscribers immediately after
02:36this decision was announced has only strengthened that.
02:39The nature of journalism has changed.
02:41The nature of the media has changed.
02:43And it is possible, I believe, in today's world to hold truth to account, to hold truth
02:48to power without compromising on your journalistic integrity.