Bezos Scandal: Prominent economist offered op-ed to WaPo at Amazon's suggestion. [View all]

[crazytown]

Last edited Wed Aug 14, 2019, 08:54 AM - Edit history (2)

Prominent economist wrote op-ed about Amazon’s new headquarters at company’s suggestion

A prominent Washington-area economist wrote an opinion piece welcoming the arrival of Amazon’s new headquarters in Northern Virginia at the suggestion of a company official who hoped to build public support for the project before a key Arlington County Board vote, emails show.

Stephen S. Fuller, a professor at George Mason University, also showed the article to Amazon public relations staff before publication and invited them to suggest changes — although he rejected their revisions.

“I want to [be] helpful to your — Amazon’s — mission and objectives with respect to its move to Arlington,” Fuller wrote on March 1 to Jill Shatzen Kerr, Amazon’s policy communications manager, according to emails obtained by The Washington Post under a Freedom of Information Act request.

Fuller first offered the opinion piece to The Washington Post, which turned it down. The Washington Business Journal published it March 21 under the headline, “Don’t underestimate Amazon HQ2’s importance.”

Fuller’s interactions with Amazon, which were not disclosed to the Washington Business Journal or its readers, raised questions about whether he was acting independently and transparently in penning the article, according to some ethics experts. The journal’s editor said the publication would have handled the article differently had it known.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/prominent-economist-wrote-op-ed-about-amazons-new-headquarters-at-companys-suggestion/2019/08/09/42b206b8-b885-11e9-b3b4-2bb69e8c4e39_story.html