WaPo: Graham Family Member Attacks Bezos Ownership

Katherine Graham with Woodward, Bernstein

Pamela Alma Weymouth, granddaughter of the late Washington Post publisher Katherine Graham, has sharply criticized current owner Jeff Bezos for undermining the newspaper’s legacy. 

Writing in The Nation, Weymouth recounts her grandmother’s courage during the Watergate era, when Graham defied threats from President Richard Nixon, ignored her lawyers and board, and published the Pentagon Papers, exposing government lies about the Vietnam War. She also backed leaks revealing Nixon’s role in Watergate, finding her voice through bold action.

Weymouth laments that those days are gone. “Now, facing a more tyrannical Trump, Bezos has retreated,” she writes, accusing him of silencing the editorial page and driving away talented writers, editors, and cartoonists. She notes that just eight days before the election, the Post abruptly canceled its planned endorsement of Kamala Harris, breaking decades of tradition.

While the Graham family sold the Post to Bezos in 2013—prompting Weymouth to acknowledge the deal was done—she credits Bezos for his support during Trump’s first term. 

Still, she mourns the loss of the Post’s integrity, honoring the legacy of Graham, Ben Bradlee, Bob Woodward, and Carl Bernstein. “I grieve for these writers, forced to choose between feeding their families and honoring their integrity,” she writes. “My grandmother was a true patriot, protecting journalists’ rights to deliver facts and speak freely, without fear of censorship.”