I doubt the paper’s emphasis will switch to covering Washington state, but the Washington Post is about to have a new Seattle-based owner. That would be Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos.
Considering the alternatives (like, you know, Rupert Murdoch buying the paper), this can only be a good thing. Besides, if anyone is going to figure out how to turn a dying 19th century-technology industry into a thriving 21st century-technology industry, I’m pretty sure it is Bezos.
The Washington Post has been owned by the Graham family for the past 80 years. And that got me to thinking…after 113 years, isn’t it time for the Blethen family to sell off the Seattle Times and get it into the hands of someone with actual competence in internet commerce?
Bezos’ letter to the WaPo staff can be found here.
(Photo by Steve Jurvetson)
Reminds me of “All the President’s Men”, where Kathlene Graham backed up her staff, even though the Mitchell had threatened to “put her tits in the wringer” if she dared to publish a story.
But we still have the same problem. Nixon was re-elected in the midst of the first political revelations about Watergate. George W. Bush was elected (with the help of the US Supreme ourt despite obvious political shenigans in Florida(, and re-elected again with the help of shenanigans in Ohio).
What will happen to Berkshire Hathaway’s stake in WaPo?
I didn’t know Bezos took an interest in newspapers. I know Buffett has been buying lots of smaller newspapers. Maybe that’s where Bezos got the idea. I’d have to bet that Bezos and Buffett have talked about this. Buffett is a smart guy and wouldn’t be buying up newspapers unless he thought they had profit potential. And yes, it logically could be a harbinger of a new chapter for the Seattle Times. The print news industry clearly needs a new business model and maybe Bezos has figured out something. Everyone else’s approach has been to make everything smaller: Page size, news staff, coverage. Here’s hoping Bezos has a way to upsize newspapering. The demand and need for news has not diminished a whit; only the ad revenue has.
Bezos’ wife told him to pick up a newspaper on the way home.
Jeff has his hands full at Amazon, but if there exists a 21st century turn around artist for the formerly venerable WaPo, Jeff is the man for the job.
@4 Funny!
A commenter on the ST website offers an interesting point:
“I wonder how this will affect the Seattle Times given the large amounts of articles they print verbatim from the Washington Post instead of writing their own …”
Hmmm. It seems this makes Bezos effectively a half-owner of the ST. I wonder how much Frank B. will sell the other half to him for? I guess after today we shouldn’t be shocked if Bezos someday acquires the ST, too. Maybe that’s we he’s had his sights on all along.
@7 Roger,
Well, it does not take a lot of imagination to see the “synergy” (OMG, did I just use synergy?) of a bi-coastal daily news operation. If not the ST, what daily Newspaper stands head and shoulders above all others on the west coast?
One way to think about it is the east coast paper is the morning national paper and the west coast is the national evening paper.
Whatever happens Jeff has shown he has the imagination and the leadership chops to make a go of whatever he undertakes.
Who’d a thunk in 2000 Amazon would be the premier software hosting company?
Most likely a way to shed an operating unit that wouldn’t investigate its parent company. WaPo owns Kaplan and makes a fortune from student loans that the government is starting to scrutinize. In the past few years, the paper has been writing glowing stories on the successes of charter schools.
Be careful what you wish for …
Bezos name as a the buyer of the WP could be very misleading. He is a masterful entrepeneur and may have “bought” the “paper” for other reasons. Soem of these are mundane:
a. he may need losses for tax purposes.
b.besides its flagship, the WP may own other assets. Maybe it wns land in DEC where Jeff can build a superhigh sky scraper?
c. WP staff includes very connected people .. Bezos may see this as cheaper than buying a K street firm to do his lobbying.
d. WP already published ebooks. The name would be a great platform to take on the traditional publishers!
e. He an Buffett may have a plan to corner the pulp market,
f. Given the sad state of Cable news, the new Al Jazeera channel will be the ONLY real news on TV. The WP could be a platform to launch an American Based World channel patterned on Al jazzer?
g. Please Note: The papers name is the Washington Post. Maybe Jeff means this to be This Washington’s Post?
h. The WP has made little profit off of its brandname. Its nickname the WAPO may be worth $100,000,000 on its own.
g. The WP office is sais ot have a wonderful executive suite where Jaff can stay when he is in the “other Washington.”
h. As publisher of the WAPO, Jeff will now get invited to a lot of parties!
Is it true that A-Rod’s contract was worth more than what Bezos paid for the Washington Post?
@10 SJ,
Not wishing for anything. Bezos owns WaPo.
He may just be leveraging a position, but if he intends to be in for the long haul that’s good for WaPo employees, MSM journalism and …. Seattle.
Jeff is a good business person and exemplar of Seattle immigrants.
@11 Until this morning. Now you can buy it for a latte.
Why has no one mentioned the possibility that WaPo might be turned into some entity that just tries to sell us shit?
LA Times – bankruptcy
Chicago Tribune – bankruptcy
Boston Globe – almost shut down a couple of years ago. Unions forced to concede big-time to prevent it. Now sold for a small remnant of its former value.
NYT – various restructurings over the years. It’s sinking, slowly.
Bezos isn’t known for journalistic excellence. He’s known for retail. Broadcast News comes to mind:
Tom Granick: Just remember that you’re not just reading the news, you’re narrating it. Everybody has to sell a little. You’re selling them this idea of you, you know, you’re sort of saying, trust me I’m, um, credible. So when you feel yourself just reading, stop! Start selling a little.
We won’t be buying subscriptions to WaPo anymore. We’ll buy a Kindle Fire branded with WaPo on the cover, and the paper will be free. Easy portal to Amazon, and Bezos collects a commission for referring the consumer from WaPo to the company he founded.
…
Eventually there won’t be any news content, and the average subscriber won’t even notice. Instead of inane snippets of news, Roger Rabbit will be posting 250 Deals of the Day, each and every day.
A silver lining: When we get “RR Commentary” on the relative merits of the erectile dysfunction drug that’s the current WaPo Deal, for once we’ll believe he knows what he’s talking about.
@4 Hah!
OT Reminds me of my favorite “Intellectual” joke on a recent Reddit thread. (Yeah, I waste time on the interwebs other than here…)
A programmer’s wife sent him to the store asking, “Get a gallon of milk and if they have fresh eggs get a dozen.”
He came back with 12 gallons of milk.
@7 It effectively makes Bezos Uncle Frank’s customer. Other big-city dailies that offer out-of-area home delivery including the WaPo, New York Times and the Wall Street Journal all make use of The SeaTimes’ Bothell printing plant and carrier network.
I’d be inclined to say “wtf is this idiot doing” except…a lot of people (including me) have been saying that about Bezos since he first laid a door across a couple of sawhorses and declared himself open for business. (Did y’all know that Amazon now has a big shop in Renton that custom builds all those door-and-sawhorse desks?) Anyway, guess what? He was right and we were wrong.
Well FartyArt, as a businessman, you admit he’s run circles around you. Butt, he’s a DONK through and through. Reading his OpenSecrets bio, Jeff is FOR the internet sales tax. He also gave $2500 Large to the gay marriage initiative and loves him some Maria CantVoteWell and Patty Dirty Sneakers Murray. As always Puddy knows where to find interesting data while HA libtards speculate…
And of course an interesting take on Bloomberg…
Yeah, right!
Butt, libtards on many DUMMOCRAPT left wrong blog boards are really pizzed he shutdown that WikiLeaks server in 2010. Awww they can’t have it their way all the time.
Wow, the Freakazoids at The Nation are really throwing a tantrum on Bezos! Puddy catalogs the HA left wrong sites and visits them regularly for LAUGHS!
Gosh this is really funny! Bezos has a political agenda the nation despises. Whodathunkit?
Don farted…
Just a little research and you would have discovered
Butt, being a DONK means just throw up any crap on HA. Roger SENILE DUMBASS and LUNATIC Wabbit does it just about every hour on HA.
OMG, the leftist pinheads at Politico are pizzed too.
My oh my… the sharp knives are out!
It’s sad to see rhpee6033 still not over 2000. 13 years later and still has a hardon for the CORRECT SCOTUS decision on Florida Supremes shenanigans!
Puddy did an HA search on Bezos. Y’all like him and Goldy hates him. Butt no one wanted to comment on this back in May…, in our own back yard…, Puddy wonders why?
And…
Puddy remembers reading y’all hate Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
I see the “dead-ender” puddypussypissypants is still puking all over the HA threads.
The puddybigot forgot his Immodium today, or was it the haldol?
Facts, scary things to Libtard SCHMUCKO and the other HA gutter dweller rujaxoff. So do the only thing a DONK DUMMOCRAPT knows… attack the messenger of bad libtard links.
Of course they can’t prove anything is false from those links. So you two just take two Fukitol and lay down quietly!
@27 You wouldn’t know what a fact is if one goosed you.
@21 “Roger SENILE DUMBASS and LUNATIC Wabbit does it just about every hour on HA.”
With you to kick around it’s easy.
@29 Don’t pick on Puddy. He suffers from tourettes
Posts #28, 29, & 30 thoroughly demonstrate the DONK mindset.
Empty
Nothing real
Mindless
Insipid
Vacuous