Analysis / Bias

The Washington Post played a part with The New York Times in publishing excerpts of the Pentagon Papers in 1971. The original papers can be viewed Here. The Washington Post started reporting on Watergate in 1972, linking the DNC break-in to Nixon’s campaign and eventually brought down the administration of President Richard Nixon.

According to Pew Research, the Washington Post is more trusted by a liberal readers than conservatives. However, in 2016, The Washington Post published an anti-Bernie Sanders editorial “Bernie Sanders’s fiction-filled campaign” that the New Republic called an “embarrassment.”

The Washington Post was involved in a scandal in 1980, when they published an article by Janet Cooke that won the Pulitzer Prize. Cooke later returned the Pulitzer Prize when it turned out the story was not true.

In review, The Washington Post publishes stories with emotionally loaded headlines such as “Trump escalates China trade war, announces plan for tariffs on $200 billion in products” and in editorials “The Trump administration created this awful border policy. It doesn’t need Congress to fix it.” When it comes to sourcing they typically utilize credible sources such as Propublica.org, Associated Press, Slate, Princeton.edu, New York Times, wired.com and CNN. Story selection and editorials tend to favor the left with the Washington Post only endorsing Democratic candidates since 1976, including Hillary Clinton in the last election.