【2024美國總統大選】貝索斯親自下令阻《華郵》為賀錦麗背書被指不敢得罪特朗普遭逾20萬名讀者退訂多名主編員工辭職

By Valerie on 30 Oct 2024

Digital Editor

美國自由派報道《華盛頓郵報》（簡稱《華郵》）上周五（25日）宣布，不再公開支持美國總統大選候選人，打破自1976年以來的慣例。據消息人士透露，此舉由《華郵》所有者、亞馬遜（Amazon）創辦人貝索斯（Jeff Bezos）親自下達指令，被指是為討好共和黨候選人特朗普（Donald Trump）。事發後，該報訂閲人數大跌，截至周一中午已錄逾20萬名讀者取消訂閲。同時，貝索斯的決定引發《華郵》編輯部內部約1000名員工不滿，特約主編Robert Kagan以及至少兩名專欄作家、兩名編輯委員會成員辭職，另有19名專欄作家聯名簽署譴責信，公開指責貝索斯。

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據報，《華郵》自1976年開始，每逢總統大選都會宣布支持特定候選人，2020年曾表態支持現任總統拜登（Joe Biden），再往前的2016年，該報公開支持民主黨提名候選人希拉莉（Hillary Clinton）。唯一的例外是在1988年，拒絕在共和黨候選人老布殊（George H. W. Bush）和民主黨候選人杜卡基斯（Michael Dukakis）之間站隊。

直到上周五（25日），《華郵》發行人William Lewis發表聲明宣布，不會在2024年美國總統大選中支持任何一位候選人，也不會在未來的總統選舉中支持任何一方。他在給讀者的一封信中指出，該報在1976年前基本上避免為任何候選人背書，今次決定是沿用舊有做法，是基於其「傳統價值觀」，旨在促進無黨派的新聞報道，並相信讀者具備選擇領導者的能力。

@washingtonpostHere’s why some billionaires are going soft on Trump. With the White House appearing increasingly up for grabs, and especially as polls have tightened, numerous billionaires and other leading executives have taken steps in recent months to stay out of the race — even if they had criticized Trump after the Capitol insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021, calling his encouragement of the riot a threat to American democracy. Others who previously backed Democrats have stayed silent this election, which some critics and Trump supporters alike have interpreted as a peace offering to the GOP presidential nominee. Two Trump campaign advisers said numerous executives have been trying to reach out to the former president’s team late in the race. “I’ve told CEOs to engage as fast as possible because the clock is ticking … . If you’re somebody who has endorsed Harris, and we’ve never heard from you at any point until after the election, you’ve got an uphill battle,” the Trump adviser said. “People are back-channeling, looking at their networks — they’re talking to lobbyists to see what they can do to connect with the president and his team.” Trump allies hailed what they say are signs of neutrality from other billionaires. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who owns The Washington Post, decided that The Post would no longer endorse presidential candidates, a change announced last week. The Post had an endorsement of Harris in the works. That came just days after Patrick Soon-Shiong, who owns the Los Angeles Times, blocked that paper’s endorsement of Harris. Both moves sparked an uproar, with critics saying they reflected concerns about the owners’ financial interests — Amazon has billions of dollars in cloud computing contracts with the federal government, and Blue Origin, Bezos’s rocket company, has contracts with the Space Force and NASA. Soon-Shiong, a biotech investor, could have future business before federal regulators. Caption from original article by Jeff Stein, Jacqueline Alemany and Josh Dawsey.
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消息人士指出，截至周一中午，已有超過20萬名《華郵》讀者取消訂閲，佔整體250萬份付費訂閲發行量約8%，目前人數仍持續增加。消息人士續稱，原本社論編輯部已起草了一篇支持民主黨候選人賀錦麗（Kamala Harris）的文章，但貝索斯親自下達指令阻止了報道發布，隨後引起了編輯部內部約1000名員工的不滿，擔心管理層的決策將干擾編輯工作的獨立性。《華郵》前執行主編Martin Baron則在一份聲明中批評表示，「這是懦弱的表現」，將對傳統報社的地位造成不利影響，導致民主的倒退。

《美聯社》報道稱，就在《華郵》宣布不站隊的幾個小時後，特朗普會見了貝索斯旗下太空探索公司藍色起源（Blue Origin）的高層。據悉，該公司於2023年與美國太空總署（NASA）簽訂了一項價值34億美元（約265億港元）的合約，幫助美國政府建造載人登月任務的飛船。

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報道指出，特朗普此前威脅稱，如果他重返白宮，將動用政府權力打擊「對人物、事物和事件作出不誠實和虛假報道的媒體」，並點名META創辦人朱克伯格（Mark Zuckerberg），強調將把「選舉舞弊者」送進監獄，「把牢底坐穿」。據悉，特朗普與朱克伯格積怨已久，朱克伯格曾公開指責特朗普的煽動性言論，特朗普的Facebook和Instagram帳號更曾被禁用兩年。今年3月，特朗普反對TikTok禁令，認為封殺TikTok對META的業務有利，稱Facebook才是「人民公敵」，尤其在選舉方面。