This is not some disgruntled ex-employee speaking off the record. This is David Maraniss, a Pulitzer-winning reporter and author who’s now an associate editor at the Washington Post, where he’s been affiliated for more than 40 years. - ThreadSky

bgrueskin.bsky.social • 31 days ago

This is not some disgruntled ex-employee speaking off the record.

This is David Maraniss, a Pulitzer-winning reporter and author who’s now an associate editor at the Washington Post, where he’s been affiliated for more than 40 years.

Reposted from David Maraniss

The Washington Post editorial this morning essentially equating Biden's questionable pardons with Trump's outrageous Jan. 6 pardons was unconscionable. The newspaper I've been part of for 48 years has utterly lost its soul.

Comments

minerva1.bsky.social•31 days ago

Sad that these days he works for the former Murdoch bag man Will Lewis.

applejack1.bsky.social•31 days ago

Democracy dies when oligarchs buy the press.

petrarca.bsky.social•31 days ago

I get the Post for a dollar a week. At the time, it seemed like a bargain, now it seems over-priced.

lgreissinger.bsky.social•31 days ago

I cancelled our full-priced subscription last year. They offered the dollar/week deal after our cancellation. I wouldnt re-up even if they paid me.

khsinclair.bsky.social•31 days ago

It's not the cost to you that matters, it's the cost to everyone

everettboy.bsky.social•30 days ago

Democracy Dies in Stupidity!

megsyperk.bsky.social•31 days ago

Appreciate the context. Sincerely.

12thdim.bsky.social•31 days ago

I agree with him: the paper has been trumpicated.

rimaregas.com•31 days ago

They're ditching in droves. Oliver Darcy is required reading

sfshinigami.bsky.social•31 days ago

Should be clear that the questionable aspecr of Biden's pardons have been pretty soundly vindicated.

ww444.bsky.social•31 days ago

Why is it these new bromances are ruining our USA... as they laugh all the way to the bank...

@mcuban.bsky.social, you're brilliant, can't https://www.costplusdrugs.com/BETTER grow and rival Amazon? Plus with co-founding one of the first streaming companies....soon we'd all be like Amazon and Prime who???

kabinkatz.bsky.social•30 days ago

If he has any integrity or respect for the truth he'll be outta there like he's going for a ride in a catapult 🤣❣️

thefullerreport.bsky.social•31 days ago

I mean, it's sad for the whole wapo institution argument, but wtaf, did he just read his paper today?

saidthat.bsky.social•31 days ago

To be fair, that pillar of courage Sen. Susan Collins said the same thing.

merelymollie.bsky.social•31 days ago

I'm sure she is deeply concerned.

emmabrody.bsky.social•31 days ago

That's right.
Trump repeatedly threatened to prosecute and put the Biden family in jail.....with no evidence of wrongdoing. Hunter was thoroughly investigated and all they came up with was a tax and gun charge.

Trump pardoned a drug runner and cop beaters. Biden pardoned an innocent family.

getbacktologic.bsky.social•31 days ago

It's not even a question. Joe Biden was the head of a crime syndicate in which his family members took the payments and funneled it back to him in exchange for favor from the US government.

emyxteriino.bsky.social•31 days ago

lol

viperx83.bsky.social•31 days ago

What a bizarre lie.

scaree.bsky.social•31 days ago

Also a child pornographer.

damnitcarl.bsky.social•31 days ago

I’m done with Bezos Mythos.

gnomeledy2.bsky.social•30 days ago

Bezos News providing cover for Trump, AGAIN. If you're still subscribing, WHY?

bgrueskin.bsky.social•31 days ago

Below, presumably, is the editorial.

And this is the lede, which is truly idiotic:

“The outgoing and incoming presidents both abused their pardon powers on Monday…

“President Biden started the trouble by issuing preemptive pardons for five family members…”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/01/21/pardons-trump-biden-preemptive/

ericcolumbus.bsky.social•31 days ago

For better or worse, I can imagine the WaPo ed board — which loves “pox on both their houses” stuff — running this editorial even before Bezos’ heel turn.

kabinkatz.bsky.social•30 days ago

THERE IS NO RULE OF LAW IN THE UNITED STATES OF PUTIN (AMERICA)😭❣️

bgrueskin.bsky.social•31 days ago

As Leonard Pinth-Garnell put it …

jaywyk.bsky.social•31 days ago

Hello Bill thanks for sharing, glad you’re here. Can we connect as friends?

garysnyder.bsky.social•31 days ago

The language being used now? The words? This, from Tatiana Siegel & Matt Donnelly: 'A pragmatic Iger must now pay respect to Trump, so too must his former communications czar Zenia Mucha. The Disney alum...is chief brand & communications officer for TikTok and is running strategy behind the scenes.'

desertflower7p3.bsky.social•31 days ago

It’s pretty simple.. actors gotta act! So what if it’s a propaganda movie?? Just look at the garbage put out by womens, OWN, HallMARK PAP. Guessing some idiots watch it or need it to veg into oblivion??

kton11.bsky.social•31 days ago

He needs to resign. End of

cjmcg1966.bsky.social•31 days ago

"President Biden started the trouble..." It hurt letting go of WaPo, and more so of the NYT (in 2017) my go-to for 35+ years (RIP) but I rebounded quick with awesome news sources like @thecontrarian.bsky.social, @theguardian.com, @democracydocket.com I see as the proverbial phoenix rising.

clivesimpkins.bsky.social•31 days ago

That Contrarian handle is a placeholder only.

cjmcg1966.bsky.social•30 days ago

Not sure what you mean.

merelymollie.bsky.social•31 days ago

Five family members who've done nothing wrong
versus
1600 convicted, violent rioters & insurrectionists

Oh, yes obviously the exact same thing.

Sure.

rockwils1.bsky.social•31 days ago

alherix.bsky.social•31 days ago

When it transpires that one of these Jan.6 rioters has killed someone in revenge wonder who will the papers blame?

gardenblues2025.bsky.social•31 days ago

"President Biden started the trouble". Maybe they should revisit the pardons Trump made on his way out of office last time--they weren't protecting innocent public servants and family members. Trump pardoned Stone, Manafort, Bannon, etc. for crimes committed on his behalf. Like the J6 terrorists.

deficit-hawktuah.bsky.social•31 days ago

Is he still an associate editor? Because his condemnation is worthless in that case.

edb1947.bsky.social•31 days ago

I just canceled my Washington Post subscription. I’m going to miss @sallyjenx.bsky.social @barrysvrlugawp.bsky.social & Sunday crosswords, but I can no longer support a paper with this utter lack of integrity.

And as someone else posted, when the Washington Post is like this, democracy is doomed.

leegordon.bsky.social•30 days ago

edb1947.bsky.social•30 days ago

👏👏👏👏

intheseshoes.bsky.social•30 days ago

I quit last summer, I think, and it was hard. It had been my paper since I moved to DC after the 1984 elections. The NYT has great puzzles and games, btw.

hobokenirish.bsky.social•31 days ago

As much as I am thrilled to see WAPO employees standing up and screaming from the rooftops, I worry of whats to come. Does it fold? Does it become a right wing rag with WAPO name? Isbthere any hope Bezos sells?

mitchferro.bsky.social•31 days ago

If you look at who Bezos brought in to be CEO, Will Lewis, it is already a right wing rag. This is a guy who for years has been at Rupert Murdoch properties, & helped cover up the phone hacking scandals, destroying emails that were to be preserved under court order. https://www.npr.org/2024/07/30/nx-s1-5055648/washington-post-will-lewis-phone-hacking-scandal

strigori.bsky.social•31 days ago

None of the legacy media can be trusted now, none of them. They've all happily become propaganda machines for fascists.

maxashermiller.bsky.social•31 days ago

And for what? The fascists still hate them and want to throw them all in prison

shaenon.bsky.social•31 days ago

That's what I keep coming back to. What's the incentive for anyone but the top money guys to comply? They get to keep their jobs for another six months before they're swept up in the next round of purges?

strigori.bsky.social•31 days ago

I'm sure they're telling themselves they're still doing good, important work, and the access they get for now is all worth it. If just for the book deal later.

tblack301.bsky.social•31 days ago

Simply put they are spineless

dotsea.bsky.social•31 days ago

I feel like a lot of people thought they could participate in systems that were intentionally designed to be harmful and uphold capitalist white supremacy w/o being complicit. Now seeing those institutions act according to their purpose, still refuse to see the foundational problems of this country.

jcottbarz.bsky.social•31 days ago

Thanks Bezos

cjmcg1966.bsky.social•31 days ago

I'm just a random ex-subcriber, and I said those same exact words this am (after reading a ludicrous @politico.com headline) that @washingtonpost.com, @nytimes.com et al are not what they were 10 years ago (and prior) "like their souls have been sucked right out of them."

drslpt.bsky.social•31 days ago

Let's give them a break. A part of them already knows that the Jack boot thugs are in the not too distant future. Journalists and comedians won't be around much longer.

no-mods-no-masters.bsky.social•31 days ago

Pretty embarrassing to be surprised at a paper owned by one of the richest people on earth doing right wing apologia, as they have done for years. It is a greater degree, sure, but the same direction

ipsedixitnews.bsky.social•31 days ago

Another step backward. If the WP reaches this level, no one can expect to escape a pretty dark future.

stewiegriffin52.bsky.social•31 days ago

His statement clearly shows bias & partisan faux journalism. Biden pardoned himself, Fauci and his corrupt family going back to Jan. 2014, which is when Obama, Dr. Death and Hunter started up their bio-labs in western Ukraine and the bribes, extortion and money laundering began. Only questionable?

mad-dem.bsky.social•31 days ago

When the going gets tough, the papers fold

billygreg.bsky.social•31 days ago

Just watch as the media will twist itself like a Cirque du Soleil contortionist to normalize Trump’s vile actions for the next 1384 days.

rudeartichoke.bsky.social•31 days ago

Don't even read them anymore. They aren't going to be reporting news for us anymore. It's just going to be what the oligarchs want us to think.

bayless59.bsky.social•31 days ago

Just as it is equally ‘unconscionable’ that mainstream media, anchors and other elected officials’normalize’ a man who is wholly unfit to serve as President then and now ‼️ He should be a ‘pariah’ like the media 👀 scorned Madoff…

bluguitar.bsky.social•31 days ago

Wapo? Who would have guessed.

observerbs.bsky.social•31 days ago

Yeah. Going from "All the President's Men" to what it is now is emblematic of the decline of US media.

grw.bsky.social•31 days ago

I dropped them during the Biden upheaval but the NYTimes is equating Trump's Christianity with the Bishop's. Both leaders of the church it says, so I don't know that it is any better.

whirledbizarre.bsky.social•31 days ago

There is a real opportunity for failing legacy media to turn it around and act like the 4th estate. Real journalism, not MSNBC, Fox cheerleading.

jdinjc.bsky.social•31 days ago

and it’s mind.

markpotts.bsky.social•31 days ago

Arguably the Post’s most senior and decorated reporter besides Woodward.

roncampbell.bsky.social•31 days ago

Yeah. David Maraniss is not just any Postie. He could leave any time, and there would be an tangible sinking sensation in the building.

danieltuke.bsky.social•31 days ago

So… why hasn’t he left?

yellowbirdcjk.bsky.social•31 days ago

😭

jillbigmouth.bsky.social•31 days ago

Makes you wonder what Trump is holding over everyone’s heads.

artistrandy.bsky.social•31 days ago

Wearing their blinders

diananel.bsky.social•31 days ago

My cousin tried this on me last night when I posted that I was disgusted with the pardons. "But what about..." I told her not to change the subject. She's the wife of retired chief of police. How does this make sense?

pj-biker.bsky.social•31 days ago

Unconscionable. The analysis of the uneducated.

fadedjane.bsky.social•31 days ago

Fucking wow!

shurao.bsky.social•31 days ago

False equivalence still going strong, I see, even post election. What a travesty.

flarabornwild.bsky.social•31 days ago

I cancelled my subscription after WP pulled their Harris endorsement, capitulating to Bezos. Then I resubscribed because why punish journalists? Now I wanna cancel again because why fund this propaganda?

springer294.bsky.social•31 days ago

I’m very glad I already canceled my subscription. Amazon prime is next.

gregspiegler.bsky.social•30 days ago

Isn't it some sorta red flag of fascism when the free press has been compromised? Asking for the usa.

actuary92637.bsky.social•31 days ago

At this point it’s safe to assume that 100% of WP employees are either fascists or people who can’t afford to quit.

intheseshoes.bsky.social•30 days ago

I quit my subscription months ago after they refused to endorse a candidate. What took you so long, David?

merelymollie.bsky.social•31 days ago

Is he planning to resign like Jennifer Rubin courageously did?

joellevinyc.bsky.social•31 days ago

If I were him I’d let them fire me so the story is magnified.

righteoushazard.bsky.social•31 days ago

Well, now I feel bad

https://bsky.app/profile/righteoushazard.bsky.social/post/3lgev5wopq22k

cenzvino.bsky.social•31 days ago

All their best left. Ashley. Phillip.
Worthless trash. Sad.

jjarchitect.bsky.social•31 days ago

I’ve seen this several times now.

If the paper is such a problem, he ought to quit.

joellevinyc.bsky.social•31 days ago

Perhaps he hopes they will fire him. Would be a bigger story.

jjarchitect.bsky.social•31 days ago

So what will they do about it?

epluribus.bsky.social•31 days ago

If he’s still there, he isn’t that great. The greats will pull new media outlets together fast. Flexible popups that can move.

fablesmom.bsky.social•31 days ago

Just heartbreaking.

rabbitpainter.bsky.social•31 days ago

It's never been more clear that traitors have been put in place to destroy information.

penelopesmith.bsky.social•31 days ago

David Maraniss deserves respect for speaking the truth.

kenjansen.bsky.social•31 days ago

Does WAPO management expect MAGA to start subscribing to their paper? MAGA’s are not heavy readers in my experience.

torenware.bsky.social•31 days ago

He got the Post for something like $250 million IIRC. He could afford to write it off as a 100% loss; he's rich enough. He just has to worry what happens to him if the fascists don't keep possession of the country. I assume he can get another country's passport if he needs one. And he may.

pamoden.bsky.social•31 days ago

F the Post -- I dumped them. It was sad but necessary

jack1973.bsky.social•31 days ago

CNN did a similar article.

retiredwhitelady.bsky.social•31 days ago

I don't get this criticism about Biden's "questionable" pardons. How can anyone say that after seeing The First Felon's rampage over the past 2 days, not to mention the Rs in the House. There is blood in the water. Of course Biden protected people-he knows more than most of us where this is headed.

mandomike.bsky.social•31 days ago

Soon to be an ex employee I'll bet.

livingstonfan.bsky.social•31 days ago

FFS. That’s insane.

mellongraig.bsky.social•31 days ago

Hopefully this will be grounds for a defamation lawsuit... and if so David Maraniss should sue them in court.

I'm also hoping that he and other reporters/authors/editors will put pressure on Congress to act and pass a media reform bill that is so desperately needed to address the grim situation.