Will Bezos Turn The Washington Post Around?

[Rightguide]

The hard truth: Americans don’t trust the news media​

A note from our owner.​

By Jeff Bezos
October 28, 2024 at 7:26 p.m. EDT

You can see my wealth and business interests as a bulwark against intimidation, or you can see them as a web of conflicting interests. Only my own principles can tip the balance from one to the other. I assure you that my views here are, in fact, principled, and I believe my track record as owner of The Post since 2013 backs this up. You are of course free to make your own determination, but I challenge you to find one instance in those 11 years where I have prevailed upon anyone at The Post in favor of my own interests. It hasn’t happened.

Lack of credibility isn’t unique to The Post. Our brethren newspapers have the same issue. And it’s a problem not only for media, but also for the nation. Many people are turning to off-the-cuff podcasts, inaccurate social media posts and other unverified news sources, which can quickly spread misinformation and deepen divisions. The Washington Post and the New York Times win prizes, but increasingly we talk only to a certain elite. More and more, we talk to ourselves. (It wasn’t always this way — in the 1990s we achieved 80 percent household penetration in the D.C. metro area.)

While I do not and will not push my personal interest, I will also not allow this paper to stay on autopilot and fade into irrelevance — overtaken by unresearched podcasts and social media barbs — not without a fight. It’s too important. The stakes are too high. Now more than ever the world needs a credible, trusted, independent voice, and where better for that voice to originate than the capital city of the most important country in the world? To win this fight, we will have to exercise new muscles. Some changes will be a return to the past, and some will be new inventions. Criticism will be part and parcel of anything new, of course. This is the way of the world. None of this will be easy, but it will be worth it. I am so grateful to be part of this endeavor. Many of the finest journalists you’ll find anywhere work at The Washington Post, and they work painstakingly every day to get to the truth. They deserve to be believed.

See full editorial here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/28/jeff-bezos-washington-post-trust/

Sounds like he's acknowledging the problem with the Post's leftwing bias and take note that in the last 48 hours the Post has lost 200,000 subscribers.

 

[Bn2f]

All these newspapers not endorsing Harris is yet another example of the media’s left leaning bias.

 

[deckardB26354]

Duplicate thread.

 

[BabyBoomer50s]

I don’t think. The “journalists” seem more interested in writing to please each other than providing objective, credible reporting. They’ve lost $77 million over the past year and a couple hundred loyal left wing subscribers have cancelled. It’s a hot mess.

 

[Rightguide]

I don’t think. The “journalists” seem more interested in writing to please each other than providing objective, credible reporting. They’ve lost $77 million over the past year and a couple hundred loyal left wing subscribers have cancelled. It’s a hot mess.

Read today where some of their top people have walked out.

 

[Politruk]

The Post's problem is not its politics. Never was. The Post's problem is that it is printed on paper.

A rightward turn is not going to rebuild its subscriber base. DC already has The Washington Times.

 

[Bn2f]

I don’t think. The “journalists” seem more interested in writing to please each other than providing objective, credible reporting. They’ve lost $77 million over the past year and a couple hundred loyal left wing subscribers have cancelled. It’s a hot mess.

Which is worse? Losing 786 million for lying to your audience or losing 77 keeping print media relevant in the age of social media and the internet?

 

[Rightguide]

Over 200,000 subscribers flee 'Washington Post' after Bezos blocks Harris endorsement​

Updated October 29, 20249:17 AM ET
https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2018/08/20/npr_74095957_sq-93403465939702f13fe804e66ae3b1e532fcd136.jpg?s=100&c=85&f=jpeg
David Folkenflik

The Washington Post has been rocked by a tidal wave of cancellations from digital subscribers and a series of resignations from columnists, as the paper grapples with the fallout of owner Jeff Bezos’s decision to block an endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris for president.

More than 200,000 people had canceled their digital subscriptions by midday Monday, according to two people at the paper with knowledge of internal matters. Not all cancellations take effect immediately. Still, the figure represents about 8% of the paper’s paid circulation of roughly 2.5 million subscribers, which includes print as well. The number of cancellations continued to grow Monday afternoon.

A corporate spokesperson declined to comment, citing The Washington Post Co.'s status as a privately held company.

“It’s a colossal number,” former Post Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli told NPR. “The problem is, people don’t know why the decision was made. We basically know the decision was made but we don’t know what led to it.”

Much more here: https://www.npr.org/2024/10/28/nx-s...orsement-president-cancellations-resignations

 

[JoePepsiCo]

The news information evolves with technology.

It can handle more people and service them in many more ways...

Now, we have to wring our hands over the myriads of people and plethora of services dooming the earth.

We need to be depopulated and regulated for misinformation; don't forget the foodie police either telling me what to do with my body...

Venn that bitches...​

 

[Wat_Tyler]

Imagine if Gutenberg had printed the blog . . . .

 

[JoePepsiCo]

I thought the Bible was a spin off from the Jew-blog, jPost...

 

[Lazaran]

I don’t think. The “journalists” seem more interested in writing to please each other than providing objective, credible reporting. They’ve lost $77 million over the past year and a couple hundred loyal left wing subscribers have cancelled. It’s a hot mess.

Quoted for posterity.

BabyBoobs at their finest…



BabyBoobs

 

[BabyBoomer50s]

Which is worse? Losing 786 million for lying to your audience or losing 77 keeping print media relevant in the age of social media and the internet?

Both financial losses are bad, but one of the two companies generated about $15 billion in revenues and $1.5 billion in profits in its most recent fiscal year (ended 6/30/2024). The other is hemorrhaging money, customers, and employees. WP is a hot mess.

 

[Politruk]

Both financial losses are bad, but one of the two companies generated about $15 billion in revenues and $1.5 billion in profits in its most recent fiscal year (ended 6/30/2024). The other is hemorrhaging money, customers, and employees. WP is a hot mess.

But it's not losing any money because of liberal politics.

 

[BabyBoomer50s]

Quoted for posterity.

BabyBoobs at their finest…



BabyBoobs

Thanks for keeping me honest. I said that WP had lost “couple hundred” subscribers when I meant to say a couple hundred thousand. According to an article in The Guardian, citing a NPR reporter, the number of defections hit 250,000 today. Total shit show.

 

[Bn2f]

Both financial losses are bad, but one of the two companies generated about $15 billion in revenues and $1.5 billion in profits in its most recent fiscal year (ended 6/30/2024). The other is hemorrhaging money, customers, and employees. WP is a hot mess.

Lol. You never disappoint. Country over party? No. It’s profit over all.

 

[Chernosoth]

Bozos is a robber baron with cash to park in media because he screws his workers with slave wages. Temporarily. When rising fuel costs eliminate his Amazon profits, we'll see how much he cares about his pet news site.

 

[Lazaran]

Thanks for keeping me honest. I said that WP had lost “couple hundred” subscribers when I meant to say a couple hundred thousand. According to an article in The Guardian, citing a NPR reporter, the number of defections hit 250,000 today. Total shit show.

BabyBoobs "thinks" that number fuckup was the most glaring faux pas in their comment…



BabyBoobs

 

[BabyBoomer50s]

Lol. You never disappoint. Country over party? No. It’s profit over all.

The thread is about a failing newspaper that decided not to endorse a presidential candidate. No need to take it so hard.

 

[Politruk]

The thread is about a failing newspaper that decided not to endorse a presidential candidate. No need to take it so hard.

It is only failing because it is a newspaper.

 

[Bn2f]

The thread is about a failing newspaper that decided not to endorse a presidential candidate. No need to take it so hard.

The staff was ready to endorse. Bezos intervened.

 

[BabyBoomer50s]

The staff was ready to endorse. Bezos intervened.

He owns the company

 

[Bn2f]

He owns the company

But of course. Another perfect answer.

 

[Bn2f]

He owns the company

Bezos has owned the Washington Post since 2013. You don’t attribute the $77 million lost to him and his leadership but you give him credit for being able to put his thumb on the independent reporting of his editorial staff.

 

[BabyBoomer50s]

Bezos has owned the Washington Post since 2013. You don’t attribute the $77 million lost to him and his leadership but you give him credit for being able to put his thumb on the independent reporting of his editorial staff.

The organization is a hot mess. It’s undeniable. Over a quarter million lemmings have cancelled their subscriptions and several senior staffers have resigned because the owner decided not to run an endorsement of Kamala Harris. Oh by the way, it’s lost $77 million in the last year. Their collective slide to irrelevance is painful but you can help stop the bleeding. Subscribe today.