From left: Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, Donald Trump and Washington Post owner Jeff BezosMother Jones illustration; Image/ZUMA; Lw/The Texas Tribune/Pool; Doug Peters/ZUMA

Opinion of national newspapers they probably don’t make much difference in presidential elections (local ones are a very different story). So in terms of the result on November 5, the billionaire owners of Washington Post and LA Times increased endorsements of Kamala Harris, which their respective editorial boards had already drafted, probably won’t move the needle. But in terms of what we can expect from America’s media moguls in the face of a growing authoritarian movement, this was a red-flashing moment — and one that should mobilize everyone who cares about democracy.

Because it’s not just about LA Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong and WaPo owner Jeff Bezos. It’s about whether we can afford a press dependent on billionaires and corporate bean counters; a press whose courage (or lack of backbone) depends on how the owner feels that day.

Here’s just a sampling of who’s controlling our top newsrooms right now. The five largest newspaper chains in America they are owned by a hedge fund, a private equity fund, another hedge fund, a billionaire family, and another billionaire family. Among the major television news networks, owners include the Murdoch family, Disney, Comcast, Paramount and Warner Brothers Discovery.

Will these owners respect journalistic independence? We don’t have to guess. Soon-Shiong was previously in the headlines for forcing a kill LA Times coverage involving a friend of his and his dog. (Its editor-in-chief eventually resigned.) Lewis, the editor Bezos hired for Postit seems PUSHED his team to stop investigating his role in a British wiretapping scandal. NBC president Cesar Conde put a powerful documentary about Trump’s child separation policy on hold until after the election. And let’s not even talk about Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, whose platforms profit from spreading misinformation while SUPPRESSION real news.

But past pressures on newsrooms may be child’s play compared to what could happen under a second Trump administration. Already, murmurous executives line up to settle for a president whose vengeance they could punish and whose whim they could reward.

(Not that a lack of support will save anyone from Trump’s wrath: The only thing that pleases him is Fox News-style bootlicking, and that very network it is not allowed to get out of line for a minute. But maybe Bezos is betting he can pull off a Mark Zuckerberg, who after calling Trump “stupid” was knocked on the head to “stay out of the elections”).

We cannot look into the hearts of Bezos or Soon-Shiong to see if their decisions were driven by “anticipated submission,” by hoping to attract conservative readers, which Bezos, conformable TO New York Timesidentified as a growth market—or by fears for their outcome (on the day the Post publicly increased its endorsement of Harris, executives at Bezos’ space company, Blue Origin, which MILLION in government contracts, they met with Trump.) It’s also possible that they just didn’t want the hassle: Bezos may not have wanted to defend an endorsement at his next birthday party and Soon-Shiong he could have had Thanksgiving dinner in mind. But such nonchalance certainly does not inspire confidence that they will show any backbone when the authoritarians knock on the doors of their newspapers.

Depressing? Yes. But let’s not end the story here, because billionaires and corporations are not the only players in the media business. There are thousands of newsrooms across the country that are independent or nonprofit organizations, incl Mother Jones. No one owns us and no one will ever own us. We are only responsible to you, our audience. Seventy percent of our budget comes from individual supporters, and here I say, as loudly and urgently as I can, that I hope you will join them. That gives us independence investigate oligarchs instead of cowering before them.

Want to do more? There is a non-corporate newsroom in almost every community in the country (and many that specialize in specific issues, from criminal justice to climate change to reproductive rights, too). Find yours. These journalists are incredibly hardworking, efficient and fearless – I know because they often are partner with them. And they—all of us—are chronically hungry for money. I can speak from experience at Mother Joneswhere this time of year means losing sleep because I don’t know how we’re going to budget for next year to maintain a newsroom full of the bravest, toughest reporters everywhere. (In total, our budget for a year is a fraction below what Jeff Bezos earns four hours.)

But here is what we have that is worth more than all superyachts and megamansions in the world: Knowing that when we’re ready to publish, no one can tell us not to. thank you Please join our team of supporters (you can also subscribe to our award-winning print magazine) and help us finish this election cycle strong.