This is right up there with Elon axing the Model S and X.
intercst
4 Likes
Jeff is almost as smart as Elon. 
The Captain
Um, destroying what was once one of the best newspapers in the country is… smart?
5 Likes
Um, yes, if your business depends on controlling rather than improving the flow of information.
6 Likes
I don’t know how many people really followed the history of WAPO over the last 15 or so years. The Graham family, prior to the sale to Bezos in 2013, had taken steps to begin to scale back the paper to a more super regional strategy. They were hemorrhaging money and scaled back staffing and started to eliminate the more expensive international services and coverage.
Bezos’ purchase in 2013 changed all that money tightening. The paper expanded its reach and coverage. Effectively, he gave them a blank check to pursue growth in all kinds of areas. It was spent without a cohesive purpose and the Post continued to turn off readers looking for objective coverage rather than slanted bias and a mouthpiece for a particular party. It ventured heavily into editorial pieces with same kind of bias. All this despite clear warnings from survey data that citizen’s trust of traditional journalism was at a record low. The lowest of any 1st world nation.
12 Years later, Bezos is no longer willing to continue to write an annual check in perpetuity for $100 million. Although I feel for those that lost their jobs, WaPo ignored its mission to serve the public trust and with that to do so in a fiscally responsible manner. Bezos burned through tons of cash to keep the Post on life support for 12 years, endured a rash of criticism from within for daring them to remain objective, and ended up with a political liability in the process as the thank you. The culture, leadership and activist journalism destroyed the Post. It happened in spite of Bezos, not because of him.
“Washington Post eliminates sports department amid mass layoff”
Does this mean the Super Bowl will die in darkness?
DB2
2 Likes
Super Bowl’s fine. It’s democracy that just got relegated to the minors.
Pete
3 Likes
Given all the coverage I’ve seen on the internets (and links on this board) democracy is not in danger of being ignored.
DB2
My wife’s boyfriend is terrified we will no longer get regular climate change updates with Wapo laying off 14 of its 19 climate and environment reporters.
Setting aside why a spouse’s boyfriend would have your concern, you can ease his mind by telling him that on the bright side, losing 14 climate reporters should shave at least 0.0000000% off global emissions.
Pete
I appreciate that but it’s not helping and he is apoplectic that the climate may die in darkness. He’s renewing his bluesky account to get constant reassurance the world is still ending by 2030.