Can billionaire media moguls be trusted in Trump’s America? | Emily Bell

The new gatekeepers use ‘trust’ to discredit the press and talk about removing bias with AI - distracting us from their own shift to the right

If we want to know what news organisations will look like under the second Trump administration in America, well, we are beginning to get an idea. At the Dealbook conference in New York last week, Jeff Bezos, the owner of the Washington Post and multi-billionaire founder of Amazon, gave a very favourable assessment of Donald Trump’s upcoming second term. “I am very hopeful … he seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation,” beamed Bezos. It was surprising, then, that the Washington Post did not endorse Trump in its pre-election editorial. Instead the writers crafted an endorsement of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris which Bezos killed, in his first act of blatant editorial interference since he bought the title in 2013. In a Post article Bezos rationalised his decision as being an attempt to restore trust in the press with what he called “independence” – a type of independence which clearly does not extend to damping down public flattery. The headline, run with Bezos’s approval, was ‘The Hard Truth: Why Americans Don’t Trust the News Media’. Bezos invoked the past of the American press, its historic non-endorsement of candidates and a return to some past notion of “objectivity” as being a fix for his news organisation’s woes.

Patrick Soon-Shiong, the billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Times, had already emulated Bezos by stopping the LA Times editorial board from running a presidential endorsement. Soon-Shiong, appearing on the Republican commentator Scott Jennings’ radio show, said that he had been working on an AI-powered “bias meter” which will appear on LA Times articles from January. The motivation was that the medical tech billionaire said he had begun to see his own news title as “an echo chamber and not a trusted source”.

Topics

Trump rings bell on record stock market - but will it last?

The US president-elect comes into office with a strong economy, but investors hope for more and current highs may be difficult to sustain.
BBC News - 20h
Finance Moguls Revel in Trump’s Return and Ignore the Peril

The financial world sees plenty of opportunity in the return of President-elect Donald J. Trump. For now, Wall Streeters are looking past the risks.
The New York Times - 1d
Trump to ring opening bell at NYSE

President-elect Trump will ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York on Thursday, a source familiar with the plans confirmed. Trump will travel to New York City on ...
The Hill - 1d
Billionaires plan overhaul of US news groups as media confronts trust issue

Patrick Soon-Shiong and Jeff Bezos announce efforts to address bias at LA Times and Washington Post
Financial Times - 4d
Trump's billionaire Cabinet

Welcome to The Hill's Business & Economy newsletter {beacon} Business & Economy Business & Economy The Big Story The billionaires stocking Trump’s next administration President-elect Trump made ...
The Hill - 6d
Here are the billionaires stocking Trump’s next administration

President-elect Trump has named several billionaires to top roles in his next administration — a combination worth over $360 billion and that includes the world’s richest person. Elon Musk, the ...
The Hill - 6d
Can Martial Law Happen in America?

Events in South Korea have people thinking.
The New York Times - Dec. 5
Trump picks billionaire Jared Isaacman to lead NASA

Donald Trump has picked billionaire Jared Isaacman to lead NASA. Isaacman has flown to space twice on commercial SpaceX missions but has not worked in government.
NBC News - Dec. 4
Trump picks billionaire investor as Pentagon deputy

Politico - Dec. 3