Wilbon on Bezos and the Washington Post layoff - shutting down the sports pages

[underpants]

Michael Wilbon goes after ‘lightweight’ Jeff Bezos for gutting Washington Post sports desk


Wilbon came to the Post in 1980 as a 22-year-old kid out of Northwestern. He left in December 2010 after 30 years and six months to work full-time at ESPN. Sixteen years later, watching it get dismantled hit him — and his colleagues — like losing someone.

“It’s a death, I’m not overstating it,” Wilbon said. “This we’ll never get over. This is the death of something, if not someone. For those of us who participated actively, proudly, arrogantly, we’ll never get over this.”

“We went to work every day thinking we were battling the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, and specifically, our sports section was better than the New York Times,” Wilbon said. “It was. The people that we had. The things that we did. The places we went to cover sports and bring people the best stories — we thought — in the world.”

“Most of us thought he was going to infuse the place with money and energy,” Wilbon said. “I didn’t know (Jeff Bezis) is such a lightweight. I didn’t realize that. That was evident a couple of years ago. In the last two years, we’ve seen that. Yeah, he’s a billionaire, but he’s a lightweight. A stiff wind comes and blows him away.”

https://awfulannouncing.com/newspapers/michael-wilbon-washington-post-sports-section-jeff-bezos.html

[Henry203]

1. Wilbon is accurate

I kept it for the sports section. Bezos wimped out.

[underpants]

3. I'm a PTI regular

It’s called “your show” in my house.
The article says that they haven’t mentioned it in the show. They tend to stay away from politics but it’s pretty clear where they stand.

[True Dough]

7. Michael Wilbon, 67 years old

Tony Kornheiser, 77 years old

I tune in regularly too. They are still sharp, still insightful and definitely still entertaining! May they keep PTI going for another decade!

[underpants]

11. Looks like their new deal in September runs through 2028

https://awfulannouncing.com/espn/report-pardon-the-interruption-extended-2028-michael-wilbon-tony-kornheiser.html

[True Dough]

14. That's a good start!

[pwb]

2. Tax his wealth.

The wealth class all avoid income taxes.
All of these billionaires money should have been spread to workers and stock holders not individuals. IMO.

[newdeal2]

4. Imagine having all that money and doing nothing noble with it

The billionaires are buying companies and media not to save it, but to destroy it.

[underpants]

5. Libraries, hospitals, university buildings

Not anymore

[Greg_In_SF]

8. He recently donated

over $100 Million to combat homelessness, so that is not entirely accurate.

[newdeal2]

9. Great. Drop in the bucket for a guy worth over $200 billion

Did you read how much Amazon’s tax bill dropped since Trump came into office?

That’s what he and the rest of the tech billionaires are truly interested in. This charity stuff is just to seem respectable.

[Greg_In_SF]

10. You didn't

say he wasn't doing enough. You said he had done nothing, and you are wrong.

[Initech]

15. And they're specifically targeting any organizations that are left-leaning.

Washington Post, LA Times, CBS, the list goes on.

[Jbraybarten]

6. It's just awful to see that he's destroying the Post on purpose and worse, in pieces. What a POS

[Kid Berwyn]

12. Democracy sure would appreciate a rich person who loves newspapers.

[Initech]

13. If we ever get out of this, Amazon must be broken up.

Fuck Jeff Bezos!