Perhaps Bezo’s plan is to turn TWP into the Fox News of national newspapers. In which case, the emptying of the newsroom is the first step to realizing the plan.
First Bezos destroyed bookstores (which were also gathering places). Then he destroyed malls. He destroyed small businesses & whole communities leaving no jobs. Writers can still write. It's not like you need huge printing presses & a distribution fleet. I'm sorry he destroyed the WP.
Maybe that was the plan. Musk bought Twitter to destroy what it was for political capital. They didn’t buy these to make money and it has no impact on their personal lifestyle.
It’s by design of course. The oligarchy is following the Musk playbook to destroy the info space and free press to more easily delude and control the masses.
I don’t think he cares! We were all looking at musk purchasing Twitter as a bad thing, but he knew exactly what he was doing. He meant to ruin it and make it what it is today and so did Jeff Bezos when he bought the Washington Post. He knew what he was gonna make it into and that’s what he’s doing
The MAGA plan is working. The slow unraveling of our press and our government. The dividing and conquering of our society. It's truly a slow moving train wreck. Woodward and Bernstein's reporting would never have been published today. Wake up people!
The NY Times was running nearly daily editorials on how unfit to serve DJT was, all up to the election. Even the conservative columnists were telling us so.
As even Republicans have learned, keeping in Trump's good graces is not a one-time thing, and fealty must be proven again every day. And those with too much to lose are never going to stand up for truth and their own dignity.
I wonder if Bezos, et. al., care that they are losing their top talent. If they are moving to more of a cross between grocery-store-check-out-stand tabloid and USA today, they would neither need nor want Pulitzer-level reporters and editors. Right?
It is sad. There are solutions, but they require the people to be correctly informed. Now there is one less source. It is the duty of people to be correctly informed anyway. Then they might support the long term massive tax increases required on billionaires to reduce the corruption.
Scott Lemeuix & Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social infer Bezos & Lewis are wrecking the WaPo as an offering to Trump to show that Bezos is permanently in MAGA's camp.
Once upon a time, an owner seeing these kinds of effects from their decisions would have inspired some drastic "stop the bleeding" type actions. These days, I rarely see any evidence that the billionaires care when their projects are in freefall.
It's a damn shame. They exposed so much corruption, and and helped change our country forever. It's hard to reconcile that Post with the current one. So many great people there, but Bezos the bozo is destroying it all.
That is exactly what the oligarchs are looking for. They need to get rid of any form of information that could get around the propaganda. In order to destroy democracy you need to first take power by convincing people it is on their interest. This first step is done so destruction could speed up.
No offense Jen, Bezos doesn't care. WAPO is toilet paper for his ass after going a round with the fat lyin CONVICTED NY scumbag. It will go right, and go right fast!!!
Sad news, but comforted to know I'll find his valuable political news journalism through more independent media platforms in the future. Bezos is doubling-down & the WP continues it's death spiral unabated. It's an expendable casualty in his pursuit of political influence & lucrative govt contracts.
There is no Great American Paper, there are Great American Iconic Reporters who Make the Paper.
A paper is only as good as what it prints. And.... That is A RESULT OF REPORTERS.
RIP Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal. You all cosigned your demise.
that one did hurt...they are dead to me as are many of our media outlets. Corporate media and their paid propagandist's have determined that dictatorship is more profitable than democracy. My regret is having only the one subscription to cancel with the WaPo.
The billionaire seems only able to make money on paper rather than with a great paper. Despoiling a great institution that stood strong as a bastion of our freedom.
I cancelled my (prepaid discounted) Post sub. Today the Post offered me a discounted sub to start at the end of the current cancelled one.
I donated the same amount to The Guardian instead.
I stopped using Amazon ages ago due to crappy couriers.
Credited with a decade of responsible ownership by former Post editor Marty Baron, even after yanking the endorsement editorial Bezos could've contained most of this damage weeks ago. Fact is he's yet to get his arse down to Franklin Square to meet with a Post newsroom in disarray.
Bezos is destroying it. And they may be gone tomorrow. But there are still many good reporters there: Leonig, Nakashima, Fahrenthold, Reinhard, Lemothe, etc
Maybe legacy media needs an overhaul. I don't feel like print or cable news learned anything since 2016. They don't report the news, they set up horse races.
Unfortunately, millions of people are now hooked on the fast and easy Amazon, Facebook, and Google. These companies (and guys) aren't going anywhere unless people stop using them.
Personally speaking, I don't think Bezos gives a rat's ass if he loses subscribers. I'm sure that's not where he makes his billions. Like others there is a method to his madness. There was a planned purpose to all of this and we are all witness to it.
Of all the great papers of our nation, I was sure Washington Post (my hometown paper) would never succumb to the whims of an authoritarian or his sycophants. It’s owners have welcomed darkness, and democracy is nearly dead as a result.
People who have unthinkable amounts of money buy American institutions and burn them to the ground and the financial ramifications to them is the same as if a dollar bill blew out of our hands.
Was it though? I feel like what he wanted was an established medium with a brand name that he could mould at will. Obviously he never counted on journalistic integrity.
I think oligarchs are smart enough to know they can steal with impunity if nobody is watching them. Bezos know he will more tjan make up what he lost qith no free press.
At the end of the day, the US is capitalist to the core and the only way to turn the tide is to mind where your money goes. 1 person changing getting more particular about how they spend their money does nothing. Half a country? That can bring empires down.
I am a huge proponent of not spending a single penny that isn't a necessity for the next 4 years. Nothing, live like your Great Grandparents lived. Starve this incoming administration and give them the worst artificial economy in the history of the united states.
Implode the Trump economy on day 1. The bottom line in the US is money. 🛑 giving your money to the people who suck us dry. Move your money to a credit union. 🛑 subscribing to media services and apps. When eating out or getting coffee go small, independent, local and black. https://www.eatokra.com/
He may "not care" (given how much he supressed at WaPo, I doubt) but it's still symbolic to protest him at even lower levels. Eventually, people will see this and he will become a much more viable target to many. So still worth it to protest the husk that is WaPo.
We are living in the world of the old national enquirer. Difference is that back then, you didn’t have to buy that rag as you checked out in the grocery
here's a problem...stores don't have anything anymore...you have to access merchandise online...at least stuff that I want...i will use Amazon as little as I can
Slowly shutting down my purchases on Amazon.....for tools etc I found https://Zoro.com which is owned by Grainger. They designed Zoro for individuals and small businesses.
Tragic, really. The heartbeat of democracy is a free and skeptical press. I remember the thrill of meeting Bill Bradlee when I was a college student editor.
The Washington Post was journalism's North Star. Fun fact: the truth always comes to the surface. Always.
Bezos destroyed WaPo when he announced he wouldn't endorse a candidate claiming neutrality. We are now seeing exactly how neutral he really was. This is a self-inflicted wound.
Comments
I have no talent but someone needs to draw a cartoon of them crying in heaven.
Oh yeah - Ann Telnaes is gone.
Might be time to consider using that money on an independent medium.
Try that out for awhile.
You can always go back.
I know its a different format but I'm liking The Atlantic very much 😊
You can't trust *anything* they print. So why subscribe to it? You're paying for propaganda at this point.
Another sad day for America, for democracy, for freedom.
https://bsky.app/profile/jenrubin.bsky.social/post/3lfxdfijtp22e
So much for the infallibility of the super rich.
Time to put them on notice as well.
A paper is only as good as what it prints. And.... That is A RESULT OF REPORTERS.
RIP Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal. You all cosigned your demise.
Sorry/not sorry.
#DoneWithAmazon
I donated the same amount to The Guardian instead.
I stopped using Amazon ages ago due to crappy couriers.
“Gleichschaltung" to bring all major media outlets under
Party control, allowing them to disseminate propaganda!!
“from the economy and trade associations to the media, culture and education"
He will restock the newsroom with MAGA lackeys .
Very sad for a once highly respected news organization. Very sad for our country.
STOP USING AMAZON! Shop direct from the stores. Rebuild Main Street!
https://www.Target.com
The Washington Post was journalism's North Star. Fun fact: the truth always comes to the surface. Always.
The WP is a shadow of its former self.
But thanks.
What will it take for us to wake the hell up and realize these corporations and their billionaire owners are going to kill us? Really.
Yes, that was an intentionally sarcastic question.