Verified journalists took to Twitter Thursday to express their strong disdain with the Washington Post after a series of advertisements for the Trump campaign ran on the news organization’s online homepage. None of these journalists, however, express concern when the Post routinely publishes propaganda paid for by the Chinese Communist Party.
The video advertisement, which plays when anyone opens the Washington Post’s homepage, accuses Joe Biden and his campaign of “embrac[ing] the policies of the radical left” and links to a different website showcasing how Biden and his policies are “Dangerous for AMERICA.”
The advertisement ran on the same day that Biden is expected to accept the formal Democratic nomination for the presidency at the Democratic National Convention.
This bilious insult to democracy darkens The Post's home page four times. Democracy dies in darkness, indeed. pic.twitter.com/ARltGGiV7Y
— Jeff Jarvis (@jeffjarvis) August 20, 2020
While some journalists alleged that the advertisements were false and should not be promoted by a news corporation, others claimed that the Post was selling its “soul.”
Some of these voices on Twitter, who write for the Washington Post, criticized their own publication for allegedly “call[ing] into question its public interest mission of fair-minded and truthful news reporting.”
https://twitter.com/hshaban/status/1296462725170831360?s=20
No, @washingtonpost, no, no NO. How dare you? Were these pieces of silver worth the price of your soul? pic.twitter.com/tTCYYEj1Dl
— Jeff Jarvis (@jeffjarvis) August 20, 2020
Despite claims from these journalists that allowing these advertisements “harm the reputation” of journalism, many of them are silent about the Washington Post’s decision to run communist propaganda regularly.
Every few months, an advertisement posing as “a legitimate newspaper” called the “China Watch” comes with a physical copy of the Post. While there is a small disclaimer that the “supplement, prepared by China Daily, People’s Republic of China, did not involve the news or editorial departments of the Washington Post,” many take no notice or have no problem with it.
The Daily Caller’s Chuck Ross reports that China Daily has paid the Washington Post more than $4.6 million since 2016.
Pro-democracy groups have long warned about the Chinese government’s attempts to push propaganda through American news outlets. Freedom House and the Hoover Institution have both drawn attention to China Daily’s paid inserts in reports on the Chinese government’s efforts to influence the media.
Glenn Kessler, a Washington Post “fact-checker” claimed the Trump campaign advertisement makes false claims, with a thread of examples. Kessler has never once fact-checked the Washington Post’s “China Watch” advertisement.
So the Trump campaign has taken over the @washingtonpost home page with ads that take you to a series of YouTube videos that make claims that we have fact-checked as false. Here's a sampling –>
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) August 20, 2020
Even though the Post’s slogan is “Democracy Dies in Darkness,” the news corporation adopted misleading advertisements advocating against American and democratic policies such as the quest for freedom in Hong Kong. This, however, did not seem to raise questions with any journalists or Washington Post staff who were silent on the issue.
