Dear John

Donald Trump is so hungry for the monarchic power he has cultivated as CEO of multiple failing companies, he seeks to replicate it as president by intimidating the free press with threats of retaliation should he regain power. Unfortunately, two of the nation’s biggest newspapers have announced they have already caved in.

The billionaire owners of the two papers -- Jeff Bezos of the Washington Post and Patrick Soon-Shiong of the Los Angeles Times -- have prohibited their editorial staffs from making any endorsement in the presidential race.

This is a break from the decades-long practice of the editorial staff assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the major candidates and providing a summary of arguments for and against each candidate. This is an essential service in a democracy that depends on an informed citizenry to vote.

Bezos and Soon-Shiong both claim to be making their decisions on “principle,” but their papers continue to endorse down-ballot races, indicating these were not principled decisions but rather based in fear of Trump’s potential retaliation against what he calls “enemies from within.”

Dictators love self-censorship by the press, as it empowers them to limit the range of acceptable criticism in all areas. Trump’s continued calls for the FCC to revoke the licenses of broadcasters he doesn’t like, including NBC and ABC, threaten the very pillars of democracy in freedom of speech and freedom of the press. If he is able to carry out his plan to install MAGA faithful at the FCC, we could see press censorship on a scale heretofore unimaginable.

Tell billionaire owners Jeff Bezos and Patrick Soon-Shiong of the Washington Post and Los Angeles Times to stand up for freedom of the press by adding your name now!

Now, with democracy on the line, is not the time to be silent and complicit. If readers cannot rely on these papers to offer independent journalism, cowed by no powerful dictator wannabe, they will have little need for what these papers offer -- a sentiment voiced clearly by the 200,000+ former Washington Post subscribers who have canceled their subscriptions since the announcement.

Silence empowers bullies to extend their dominance. Making no endorsement in this election appears to suggest a false equivalency between these two candidates, that there is little or no meaningful difference between them. In fact, the truth is that one defends democracy while the other has promised to be a “dictator on day one.”

This failure to assess what is at risk and what is in the public’s interest weakens the public’s trust. Readers cannot respect what looks and feels to be a cowardly lack of conviction, or worse yet, tacit support for the candidate whose misogyny, racial animus, and proclivity to incite violence is well established. The press must stand up against these disturbing trends.

Tell Bezos and Soon-Shiong to reconsider their decisions, uphold their duties to democracy, and lift their bans on their editorial staffs’ endorsements. Add your name now!

Thank you for demanding the press stand up for its own freedoms and obligations to the American people!

- DFA AF Team