Timing has so much to do with whether a change will be accepted or resisted.
Last week, owner Jeff Bezos told the Washington Post not to publish their endorsement of Kamala Harris. The endorsement of Harris would have hardly made a ripple but the non-endorsement has caused an uproar, with hundreds of thousands canceling either their Post subscription, Amazon Prime, or both. This is partly because of Harris advocates inferring that it’s an endorsement of the other guy, while others are (rightfully) livid that an owner practiced journalistic interference.
But I’ll bet that had The Post said it was pursuing a “no-endorsement” policy a year ago or even at the beginning of the campaign, no one would have batted an eye. The policy itself isn’t the problem; it’s that the owner made it, and laid down the law with 11 days to go in a contentious election.
If you’re even remotely thinking about making a change or policy that will be unpopular, your best bet is to do it as far from the date it will be enacted as possible. Time offers a buffer that no silver-tongued justification can.
