Whaddya Know, the Bezos-Owned Washington Post Is Publishing Amazon Press Releases and Pretending It’s Journalism | Alternet
▻https://www.alternet.org/media/whaddya-know-bezos-owned-washington-post-publishing-amazon-press-releases-
When a major paper of record such as the Washington Post reports on this massive story, one would want it to seek out disinterested, outside voices to provide perspective on the rush to woo the Seattle-based company. This is especially true since the Post is directly owned by Amazon CEO and chief stockholder Jeff Bezos, giving the paper a clear reason to encourage generous bids to their boss.
The entire crux of the online retail giant’s case to city governments—and, more importantly, their citizens—is how much positive contribution its second headquarters will make to the local economy. As such, establishing the magnitude of that impact is a crucial job for news outlets.
So where did the Post turn for this hugely consequential number? An Amazon press release.
Twice in two articles, DC-based Post reporter Jonathan O’Connell referenced massive, sexy dollar amounts on how much Amazon might bring to local economies:
“Amazon has contributed $30 billion to the local economy [of Seattle] and as much as $55 billion more in spinoff benefits.” (10/19/17)
“To accommodate the company’s growth in Seattle, taxpayers funded hundreds of millions of dollars in improvements, although Amazon directly contributed $30 billion to the local economy.” (10/23/17)
The fact that neither reference had a link or a citation was a red flag. The figures could be derived by adding up numbers in an Amazon press release O’Connell had linked to as a source for a separate claim about which cities were submitting bids. When asked via Twitter where he got the figures, O’Connell linked to a different Amazon press release with the same totals, but added something about talking to “econ folks.” (When asked which “econ folks,” O’Connell didn’t respond.)