The Washington Post was responsible for breaking the story about Watergate and linking the subterfuge to President Richard Nixon himself. It also broke stories on how the United States was hiding the condition of the war in Vietnam. In a nutshell, it was once a big deal.

Not so in recent years. The Post has lost significant readership, and is hemorrhaging so bad that the publisher and CEO, William Lewis, had a blunt word for the staff:

“No one is reading your stuff!”

Former Executive Editor of the journal, Sally Buzbee, had just left her position after arriving at the Post from the Associated Press in 2021. Now the Post is scrambling, and must reckon with the unfortunate fact that they’re no longer appealing to the bipartisan base they used to connect with. Now, the Washington Post reads like “Slate,” in the words of video journalist Megyn Kelly, becoming more geared toward Democratic voters and resembling more propaganda than genuine news.

Something similar happened to NPR. The Free Press ran a story from a long-time NPR correspondent about the slow but sure bent of the radio organization towards a purely leftist orientation. The reporter, Uri Berliner, wrote:

In October 2020, the New York Post published the explosive report about the laptop Hunter Biden abandoned at a Delaware computer shop containing emails about his sordid business dealings. With the election only weeks away, NPR turned a blind eye. Here’s how NPR’s managing editor for news at the time explained the thinking: “We don’t want to waste our time on stories that are not really stories, and we don’t want to waste the listeners’ and readers’ time on stories that are just pure distractions.” 

Uri Berliner, I’ve Been at NPR for 25 Years. Here’s How We Lost America’s Trust. | The Free Press (thefp.com)

Berliner points out that NPR used to live out their mission of reflecting the country. ALL of the country, not just a specific political demographic. Despite its slightly liberal bent, conservatives and moderates loved NPR for its curiosity, depth, and quirkiness. I grew up listening to NPR on the way to school in the back seat. Robert Siegel’s unique voice will forever be ingrained in my mind!

Now the legacy media is having to reckon with its business decisions and come to terms with its bias. They only they seemed to be learning this lesson is by their thinning wallets.

Perhaps no one has spoken more articulately on this trend than the woman who’s been through the ringer in media herself: Nellie Bowles. Bowles was a reporter at the New York Times when, in 2019-2020, she sensed that the leadership and culture at the Times was no longer interested in featuring the stories she wanted to write. For instance, Bowles wanted to cover the “Chaz” district in Seattle, which sprouted following the death of George Floyd as a part of the country-wide riots and protests. The story wasn’t a priority, though, for the Times’ editors. At least, they weren’t interested in any critical look at the story. It had to be through a specific perspective that favored the current narrative. Bowles talks more in depth about her experience in this chat with UnHerd editor Freddie Sayers. Bowles laments how the head honchoes of these places name any heterodox view as “right-wing” or even “fascist.”

Does that kind of behavior sound truth-friendly, or even liberal, to you?