- Jeff Bezos is taking part in an more and more lively position in operations at The Put up, The New York Occasions says.
- The Amazon founder and ex-chief govt made an uncommon go to to the newsroom earlier this yr.
- Bezos has sought to make The Put up a global power and has inspired digital experimentation.
Former Amazon chief govt and president Jeff Bezos has develop into more and more concerned within the operations of The Washington Put up, the venerable newspaper that he bought for $250 million a decade in the past, based on The New York Occasions.
In previous years, representatives of Bezos stored shut tabs on the price range, however Bezos has not too long ago taken a extra lively method because the publication has encountered financial headwinds and inner dissent.
By early 2021, The Put up boasted 3 million digital subscribers, fueled by the lightning-speed information cycles of the Trump administration, and had greater than 1,000 staff — up from about 580 staffers earlier than Bezos’ funding within the newspaper.
However digital subscriptions now sit at 2.5 million, and the newspaper has stumbled in boosting that determine, based on The Occasions.
The Occasions report famous that The Put up was set to lose $100 million this yr, based on two people with data of The Put up’s monetary scenario who spoke to the newspaper. Two different people additionally advised The Occasions that The Put up was projected to overlook its promoting income estimates for the yr.
Patty Stonesifer, the interim chief govt for The Put up, advised The Occasions that Bezos was thrilled with “each greenback invested” within the firm. And a person with data of Bezos’ imaginative and prescient for The Put up stated that 2023 can be a “yr for funding” for the newspaper.
“I am very smitten by what we are able to do right here at The Washington Put up within the decade forward,” Stonesifer stated in a press release. “Jeff’s second decade of possession of The Put up must be much more thrilling.”
When Bezos purchased The Put up in 2013, it was the top of an period for the newspaper, which for generations had been run by the Graham household, whose stewardship noticed the paper ascend to monumental heights with its Watergate and Pentagon Papers protection.
Bezos inspired digital experimentation when he first purchased the newspaper, angling to make The Put up into a global powerhouse.
After Bezos’ preliminary buy of The Put up, his affect was much less seen within the newsroom, based on two people who spoke with The Occasions.
However as morale cratered, editor Sally Buzbee — whom Bezos had helped choose to succeed veteran editor Marty Baron — reached out to the Amazon founder to debate the issue.
In January, Bezos made an uncommon go to to the newsroom, attending a morning assembly and later assembly with a number of journalists on the paper. The journalists reportedly spoke with Bezos about some bigger newsroom points with Fred Ryan — the newspaper’s writer — who in June introduced that he would step down from his place later in the summertime.
Bezos has continued to look forward as he seeks to place his imprint on the newspaper’s imaginative and prescient. He’s mulling over an experimental venture for the opinion part, and an overhaul of the paper’s Fashion part is predicted later within the yr, based on The Occasions.
Sally Quinn, a longtime journalist on the newspaper and the widow of Put up legend Ben Bradlee, advised The Occasions that she had renewed optimism for the newsroom.
“There is a sense of hope, which we have not had for a very long time,” she stated.
