One year after his acquisition — Bezos purchased the Post from the Graham family, for $250 million, a year ago today, on Oct. 1, 2013 — media analysts remain puzzled by his decision to buy the paper. There has been no major digital innovation, no radical new product launch, no change to delivery or presentation, and no promise of any specific plans for the future.
Moreover, while Bezos is very engaged in his Amazon empire — dreaming up plans like drone delivery — and his spaceflight startup, he seems to treat the Post more like an ornament, in need of minimal polishing. And not all of his contributions have been positive for employees: In September, the Post announced that it would eliminate medical retirement benefits and end benefit pensions for nonunion workers, while seeking to do the same for union employees. The Post reporter who relayed that information to the public called it “one of the first indications of how The Post’s new owner… will manage relations with the staff of the news organization.”
While there are many in the Post newsroom who say that Bezos’ financial backing has put new wind at the paper’s back, there are others who have been left underwhelmed by the tech guru’s inability to radically transform the paper into an innovative digital product. The disappointment at the Post, several sources there agreed, is best described as the feeling of being promised a flying car and receiving only a glow-in-the-dark keychain.
“We’ve staffed up in a major way, which is reassuring, but I’m not sure anyone knows where that leads,” one reporter said. “What are we doing that’s different? What are we bringing to the table? I’m not sure we’ve figured that out yet.”
“He’s brought us two things you can only wish for: Lots of money and a general hands-off news policy,” said another. “No idea what the long-term biz strategy is, but we haven’t figured it out yet. So, thanks for all the ‘runway’ boss. We’re still taxiing.”
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/10/jeff-bezos-the-washington-post-111485.html
New York Times Co. said Wednesday that it would cut jobs across its operations and eliminate a relatively new mobile app as the company looks to cut costs and continue investing in digital growth. A news report from the Times said the company plans to cut approximately 100 jobs in the newsroom, with smaller reductions coming from other operations.
Newspaper publishers have struggled to maintain profit as revenue from print advertising and circulation shrink amid an explosion in online news media, much of which is free for users to access. The Times, like its peers, is continuing to seek a sustainable digital strategy, even as the landscape changes to conform to consumers’ increasing reliance on mobile devices.
In a letter to Times staff, publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and Chief Executive Mark Thompson said overall advertising revenue was about flat in the recently concluded third quarter, with modest growth expected in circulation revenue. However, they said the company expected its profit to decline as operating costs grew.
“This is in line with our previous guidance to the market, but it’s a reminder that the combination of the continuing secular pressure on our high margin print advertising revenue and the need for investment in the future is impacting our profitability and for this reason, we are now focused on cutting our costs,” Messrs. Sulzberger and Thompson wrote, according to a regulatory filing.
From the Wall Street Journal, 10/1/14