Years ago my boss asked me, “What is the main role of a newspaper?”
As a former newspaper journalist, I spewed out all kinds of lofty answers.
“To be the watchdog for the public.” ”To shed light on all aspects of the community.” ”To present the facts in an unbiased manner.”
Hes looked at me in a paternalistic manner as if I was some naive kid.
“The main role of a newspaper is to make a profit,” he said. ”All that other stuff is nice talk in a journalism class, but none of it happens if the newspaper doesn’t make money.”
He was correct.
His words are even more true today than ever before as newspapers across the country are fighting for their lives. The once-proud Plain Dealer in Cleveland is fighting for its survival. The Kansas City Star is a shell of what it once was. The Times-Picayune is a mess.
More and more uber-rich individuals like Amazon’s billionaire Jeff Bezos are simply going to buy newspapers. The owner of the Boston Red Sox recently bought the Boston Globe (LINK), and the journalists there don’t know how to even cover the team or the owner.
It is not for some great, altruistic reasons these people are buying newspapers, but for some very bottom line business reasons (LINK TO STORY). Owning a newspaper can be a wise move and Bezos and the Red Sox owner stole both papers .
Bezos has purchased the Washington Post and a number of other papers in the Washington area. He says he won’t be making any changes. Oh, and he won’t have any say in editorial decisions.
If you believe that there is some wonderful land in Florida that would be perfect for developing.
Bezos is not buying the Post and other newspapers out of the goodness of his heart. Will he make editorial changes? Probably not right away.
Let’s face it, any editor or columnist at the Post would be committing career suicide to question the deal. Jobs in journalism are few and far between these days.
Buying the Washington Post immediately makes Bezos one of the most powerful people in the nation’s capital. Any elected official knows he/she would be foolish to cross Bezos or any of his interests. Simply owning the paper is a major hammer.
Journalism today is not some great altruistic endeavor. It is as corporate as AT&T.
That is the reality today and journalists are learning that tough lesson every day.
AMAZON BOZOS RUNNING PAPER
I’m thinking that now that Bezos has bought The Post that he will eventually have some of his Amazon bozos running the paper. Hey, I’m certainly up for a toast to The Post (what’s left of it), as I very much fear for its long-range future under what essentially amounts to corporate ownership. Anyone care to join me for a drink while the house band plays “Another One Bites the Dust”?
BULLY PULPIT
The Post is no worse having Bezos own it versus the Graham’s. We always look at the past with nostalgia but really it is about powerful person who wants to have influence. The Post probably still has more power than some newspapers but even its power has been reduced. Bezos will use it as his bully pulpit for the things he cares about..no different than the Grahams, the Hearsts, or any other media owner.