Jeff Bezos' Decision Has Exacerbated the Media's Credibility Crisis

The traditional media landscape is widely acknowledged to be flawed, but a solution remains elusive, even for prominent figures like Jeff Bezos. Recently, over 250,000 subscribers, representing approximately 10% of The Washington Post's digital subscriber base, canceled their subscriptions following Bezos' decision to suppress a Kamala Harris endorsement for President, thereby breaking with decades of precedent at one of the nation's oldest publications. This move prompted several resignations from The Post's editorial board, prompting Bezos to pen a reactionary op-ed that attempted to justify his reasoning but ultimately dug a deeper hole by highlighting the primary cause of the debacle: the lack of trust in the media. As the founder of Trustless Media, which has incubated and launched community-owned media outlets such as Coinage and Best Dish Ever, Bezos' op-ed was intriguing, as it was both correct and misguided. According to Gallup data, trust in U.S. mainstream media has been at an all-time low for the past two years, with reasons ranging from the advertising model that prioritizes clicks and caters to polarized audiences, leading to allegations of bias. Bezos argues that presidential endorsements exacerbate this perception of bias. While I can attest that allegations of catering to advertisers are often unfounded, having worked under proper editorial regimes where sales and editorial teams are separate, the audience's perception of bias is what truly matters. Unfortunately for Bezos, he is now experiencing this firsthand. His op-ed claims that there was no ulterior motive behind blocking the Post's endorsement for Kamala Harris, but when trust is at an all-time low, it is challenging to assume that anyone will trust you. This brings us to the question of how the media can rectify its trust issue. This is precisely what Web3 aims to address – creating a world where a billionaire media owner cannot unilaterally block an endorsement. The only way forward is through complete transparency. As an example, Coinage faced a similar dilemma regarding a presidential endorsement. Instead of a billionaire owner making the decision, our community of NFT holders voted on an on-chain proposal, and although we reached the same conclusion – that not making an endorsement was preferable – the transparency of the process provides a stronger defense against allegations of bias. Web3 technology empowers individuals with co-ownership of decisions and outcomes, a first in the internet's history. If Bezos is correct that the perception of bias is the primary cause of the record-low trust in American media, simply stopping endorsements will not be enough; in fact, it may worsen the problem. It is time for Web3 technology, transparency, and co-ownership to be integrated into the core of media organizations. Until then, allegations of bias will persist.