[UPDATE] Washington Post still thinks "Democracy Dies In Darkness," but announces new mission

The Washington Post may think democracy dies in darkness, but apparently, there’s no reason we can’t all be entertained by some “riveting storytelling” first. The New York Times reports that, according to an internal WaPo presentation, the famous “Democracy Dies In Darkness” slogan, which was adopted in 2017 to underscore WaPo’s position on Donald Trump’s first term, is now being paired with a new mission statement. The Post is now committed to “Riveting Storytelling for All of America,” and anyone seeking out “an A.I.-fueled platform for news.” Unlike the slogan, which a representative from the Post reached out to clarify the paper is not retiring, this new mission statement isn’t all that reassuring as we head into a second Trump term.

This shift has unfortunately been a long time coming. The paper is owned by future inauguration attendee Jeff Bezos, who refused to endorse Kamala Harris in October—a decision that led to over 200,000 cancellations, around 8% of the paper’s subscriber base (per NPR). This is in-line with Bezos’ stated goal to appeal to more conservative readers, expressing a desire to not just serve liberal coastal audiences but “people like firefighters in Cleveland,” according to the Times‘ reporting. Still, the details are pretty stomach-churning—enough to inspire a letter to Bezos signed by over 400 employees questioning “the integrity of this institution.” 

According to NYT, a deck presented to executives this week described the Post‘s new mission statement as “Storytelling… [which should] bring a relentless investigative spirit, backed by credible sources, to deliver impactful stories in formats the world wants.” Those formats will apparently come via making the Post “an A.I.-fueled platform for news” (whatever that means) that delivers “vital news, ideas and insights for all Americans where, how and when they want it.” Traditionally, the role of the news has been to “tell all the truth,” as a different slide articulated, not to tell subscribers what they want to hear. Still, catering more to your audience means the potential for more money, which is one of the next era’s three pillars. (The others include “great journalism” and “happy customers.”)

The paper reportedly has a rather disgustingly phrased “Big Hairy Audacious Goal” (or “B.H.A.G.”) to reach 200 million paying users by an unspecified time, which the deck compared with putting a man on the moon. If there’s any joy to be gleaned from this descent into darkness, it’s from the not-so-subtle competitive spirit The New York Times includes in their report. The Post currently has fewer than three million digital subscribers, it writes, while The Times, an “industry leader,” has roughly 11 million. Immediately after citing “make money” as one of the Post‘s three new pillars, the NYT also writes: “The Post lost roughly $77 million in 2023.” Whether or not democracy is dead, playground digs will live forever.