The Washington Post pulled an anti-Elon Musk ad for their Tuesday Edition last week as tensions mounted between the newly-formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and many organizations both public and private. The ad, which advocacy groups Common Cause and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) collaborated on, is part of a wider movement to sign a petition urging the removal of Elon Musk from government affairs, aptly named Fire Musk.
Originally a wrap ad to be folded into the paper along with several smaller print ads, the campaign was already set between the Post and the two advocacy groups. With a cost of $115,000, the ads were already seen and agreed to by the Post. Without warning, the ads were pulled before the paper went into print and the two groups were told this with no recourse or reasoning given.
After hearing their ads had been pulled, the CEOs of Common Cause and SPLC released a joint statement in response. “It’s deeply concerning that our ad was censored and rejected without a valid reason” the groups stated. “We believe this is limiting our freedom of expression at a critical time in our nation’s history. This seems to show the Washington Post is feeling pressure to cover the news a certain way,” the CEOs went on to say.
In their ad policy, the Washington Post asserts they take all types of advertising, and do not reject it unless they have compelling reason. In the case of these ads, none were given to the advertisers, according to Common Cause.
In their statement about the issue, Common Cause and the SPLC seemed to insinuate the Post was pressured to “cover the news in a certain way,” alluding to the Post’s owner Jeff Bezos and his recent public closeness to Elon Musk and President Donald Trump. If this connection were to be the reason, it would follow a pattern of anti-press sentiment coming from the Trump administration and from Elon Musk, who have frequently attacked news outlets for portraying them badly or being “woke”. The Post has no policy against political ads, and this action would be defying their own parameters for ads.
Recently, the administration has had conflicts with the press, such as removing the Associated Press from White House press briefings. Other outlets have recently moved to be less critical of the administration or Elon Musk openly, fearing retribution like removal from press briefings and access to their sources. The Washington Post may be acting similarly, but the Post has not given any reason for this removal or word to any other outlets on the decision, leading to the conclusion the direct calling out of Elon Musk may be problematic.
