Jeff Bezos. (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
Late last month, just before the Labor Day holiday weekend, The Washington Post’s executive editor, Matt Murray, found himself face to face with the newspaper’s billionaire owner, Jeff Bezos. The two, I’m told, convened in Miami, the city Bezos has called home since decamping from Seattle in 2023. It's unclear whether others were present at the meeting, such as embattled publisher and chief executive Will Lewis. Regardless, there was no shortage of issues to discuss.
The meeting came against the backdrop of a wave of newsroom departures, this one triggered by buyout offers that sent some of The Post’s best-known bylines toward the exits. That exodus followed yet another round of defections earlier this year, when star talent left for rivals such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Atlantic. The migrations have not only hollowed out The Post’s reporting roster but also dealt blows to morale inside a newsroom that once prided itself on being among the most formidable in American journalism.
So when he sat down with Bezos, staffing loomed large over the meeting. Indeed, prior to his appointment with the Amazon founder, I’m told that…
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Laura Ingraham hosts her Fox News show. (Screen grab via SnapStream)
Kennedy’s Conspiracy Curtain: Right-wing media celebrated Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s bombastic Capitol Hill appearance on Thursday, delighting in his theatrics and clashes with Democrats alarmed at the anti-vaccine posture of his Health and Human Services. “KENNEDY ON HILL: TURNS TABLES ON DEMOCRATS IN FIERY HEARING,” blared Breitbart on its homepage. The Gateway Pundit went even further, cheering Kennedy for supposedly humiliating Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders with a headline that read: “RFK Jr Leaves Elizabeth ‘Pocahontas’ Warren Redfaced When He Exposes Her Big Pharma Ties–Then RFK Jr Embarrasses Bernie Sanders When He Comes to Warren’s Defense.”
Naturally, the fawning wasn’t confined to the online fever swamps. On Fox News, MAGA propagandist Laura Ingraham plastered “FAUXCAHONTAS SCREECHES AT RFK JR” across the screen and rushed to defend Kennedy’s move to revoke access to Covid vaccines for millions of Americans. She then pivoted into familiar anti-vaccine territory, feigning confusion about why children receive more vaccines today than they did 75 years ago—as if modern medicine and decades of scientific progress are somehow a mystery. Of course, none of this should be a surprise, coming from Ingraham, who has a history of misrepresenting science for her own political ends, all while her employer enforced strict health protocols.
MAGA Media has embraced the anti-vaccine movement wholeheartedly:
What say you, Ben Shapiro? The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh effectively called for the execution of Chicago’s mayor, absurdly alleging he was encouraging residents to “engage in treason against the United States.” [Mediaite]
I asked the Daily Wire’s spokesperson on Thursday whether the outlet…
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