An example of flawed reasoning; Cynicism or sincere?

Jeff Bezos published an explanation (not paywalled, I think) for him blocking the WaPo's endorsement of Harris, claiming that was needed to show journalistic "independence":

In the annual public surveys about trust and reputation, journalists and the media have regularly fallen near the very bottom, often just above Congress. But in this year’s Gallup poll, we have managed to fall below Congress. Our profession is now the least trusted of all. Something we are doing is clearly not working.

Let me give an analogy. Voting machines must meet two requirements. They must count the vote accurately, and people must believe they count the vote accurately. The second requirement is distinct from and just as important as the first.

Likewise with newspapers. We must be accurate, and we must be believed to be accurate. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but we are failing on the second requirement. Most people believe the media is biased. Anyone who doesn’t see this is paying scant attention to reality, and those who fight reality lose.

Presidential endorsements do nothing to tip the scales of an election. No undecided voters in Pennsylvania are going to say, “I’m going with Newspaper A’s endorsement.” None. What presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias. A perception of non-independence. Ending them is a principled decision, and it’s the right one.

Lack of credibility isn’t unique to The Post. Our brethren newspapers have the same issue. And it’s a problem not only for media, but also for the nation. Many people are turning to off-the-cuff podcasts, inaccurate social media posts and other unverified news sources, which can quickly spread misinformation and deepen divisions. The Washington Post and the New York Times win prizes, but increasingly we talk only to a certain elite. More and more, we talk to ourselves. (It wasn’t always this way — in the 1990s we achieved 80 percent household penetration in the D.C. metro area.)

While I do not and will not push my personal interest, I will also not allow this paper to stay on autopilot and fade into irrelevance — overtaken by unresearched podcasts and social media barbs — not without a fight. It’s too important. The stakes are too high. Now more than ever the world needs a credible, trusted, independent voice, and where better for that voice to originate than the capital city of the most important country in the world? To win this fight, we will have to exercise new muscles. Some changes will be a return to the past, and some will be new inventions. Criticism will be part and parcel of anything new, of course. This is the way of the world. None of this will be easy, but it will be worth it.

Personally, I find Bezos' reasoning to be disingenuous, obviously flawed and unpersuasive, his comments insulting and his plan to make some changes in a return to the past threatening. His assertion that "increasingly we talk only to a certain elite" really pisses me off. Exactly who are these elites? Not me, that's for damn sure. He doesn't have the guts to tell us that by elites he means pro-democracy, pro-civil liberties, pro-rule of law citizens. He sees the handwriting and needs to appeal to authoritarians falsely claiming to be pro-democracy, pro-civil liberties and pro-rule of law.

His plan to go back to the past is a threat against democracy. What changes does Bezos have in mind? He is silent about that. I assume he intends to sink the WaPo to the low level of Faux News so that they can compete for those people listening to off-the-cuff podcasts, inaccurate social media posts and other unverified news sources. 

Bezos is silent as to what he can do to increase the WaPo's credibility. From what I can tell, the most plausible tactic is to resort to what Faux News, crackpot podcasters and toxic social media do. If not that, then exactly what? Truth is truth, facts are facts. How can that possibly be distrust-inducing unless there are well-funded forces claiming that truth and facts are lies? Bezos' "reasoning" is nonsense.

Bezos' claim that he does not and will not push my personal interest is insulting, cynical and disingenuous. By quashing the Harris endorsement, he pushed personal interest. He was afraid of Trump and wanted to protect his wealth. His comments about the uselessness of endorsements is not even close to persuasive. What he did is direct evidence of non-independence from political threat. That is authoritarian, not democratic. 

A final criticism: An outrageous, insulting omission in Bezos' screed about low public trust in the mainstream media points to a critical part of American authoritarian infrastructure. Low public trust came from decades of authoritarian radical right dark free speech that relentlessly criticized the press and professional news media generally. Bezos' lament shifts all blame for low public trust on the media itself, instead of leveling most of the blame (85% ?) where it obviously belongs, namely America's authoritarian radical right propaganda Leviathan. Crackpots, creeps, cranks and cynical, divisive authoritarians from Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck to Faux News, the Republican Party, Newt Gingrich, Elon Musk, Christian nationalist hate and lies spewers and giant, anti-journalism special business interests (including plutocratic for-profit ownership) are the main reasons for low public trust. 

Bezos knows all of this and has no answer for it. So, instead of calling out the main culprit, he blames the media itself. To me, Bezos is an arrogant authoritarian, self-serving liar.

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NPR reports that about 200,000 subscribers, about 8% of paid subscriptions, have canceled since Bezos was forced by his fear of Trump to publicly go rogue anti-journalism. Over time, my opinion of Bezos could change depending on what he does to the WaPo. But at present, it feels like what Rupert Murdoch did to the Wall Street Journal. That got me to drop my WSJ subscription years ago. I canceled my WaPo subscription but will have access until the end of next April. Between now and then what he does to the WaPo can convince me he is sincere and pro-democracy, or he can reinforce my bad opinion of him. My mind will remain open.