• Null User Object@programming.dev
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      5 months ago

      How Lewis cleans up this mammoth of a mess that he has created for himself remains to be seen. Can he do it? One wonders what Jeff Bezos, the billionaire owner of The Post, who must be growing quite tired of constantly seeing his newspaper ensnared in controversy, thinks of the situation. Inside the newsroom, though, the sentiment is plain as day.

      “He’s really losing the newsroom on a large scale,” a staffer said, sizing up the state of affairs. “People don’t trust him, don’t believe he has the same values and ethics as our journalists and there are major concerns of how far he would go to censor or shut down coverage.”

    • tal@lemmy.today
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      5 months ago

      Yeah. Though…reading the numbers, it sounds like it was a pretty bad buy.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Post

      In October 2013, the Graham family sold the newspaper to Nash Holdings, a holding company owned by Jeff Bezos, for $250 million.[7]

      https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/22/business/media/jeff-bezos-washington-post.html

      The Post is on a pace to lose about $100 million in 2023, according to two people with knowledge of the company’s finances

      That’s a pretty large amount of money to be losing each year relative to the value of the company.

    • circuscritic@lemmy.ca
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      5 months ago

      Yes, and his appointment was a clear signal that certain parties had ideas on how WaPo could better align with their interests.

      Which is why this is so amusing. His baggage was a big reason why he was hired, and they had to know it would come out. No reason not to weather the storm and just communicate via friendly interviews and strategically placed PR/leaks.

      Lol. Nope. Instead he said, “Nah, I got this. Hold my silver spoon tooter.”