Washington Post to be sold to Jeff Bezos (Amazon.com)

[onehandle]

Source: Washington Post

The Washington Post Co. has agreed to sell its flagship newspaper to Amazon.com founder and chief executive Jeffrey P. Bezos, ending the Graham family’s stewardship of one of America’s leading news organizations after four generations.

Bezos, whose entrepreneurship has made him one of the world’s richest men, will pay $250 million in cash for The Post and affiliated publications to the Washington Post Co., which owns the newspaper and other businesses.

Seattle-based Amazon will have no role in the purchase; Bezos himself will buy the news organization and become its sole owner when the sale is completed, probably within 60 days. The Post Co. will change to a new, still-undecided name and continue as a publicly traded company without The Post thereafter.

The deal represents a sudden and stunning turn of events for The Post, Washington’s leading newspaper for decades and a powerful force in shaping the nation’s politics and policy. Few people were aware that a sale was in the works for the paper, whose reporters have broken such stories as the Pentagon Papers, the Watergate scandals and disclosures about the National Security Administration’s surveillance program in May.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/washington-post-to-be-sold-to-jeff-bezos/2013/08/05/ca537c9e-fe0c-11e2-9711-3708310f6f4d_story.html

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Oh great... The CEO of the Walmart of Internet sales buys the pro-Pentagon, pro-big business WaPo to lobby for his company.

What could go wrong?

[budkin]

1. At least it's not the Koch brothers

[joesdaughter]

16. Hopeful

I was playing around on the internet today and discovered that the recent buyers of the major print newspapers are major contributors to Democratic candidates and the DNC.

Jeff Bezos- Amazon- Washington Post

John W. Henry- Boston Red Sox- Boston Globe ( for a steal from the NYT*).

*Sorry baseball fans- couldn't resist.

[Kelvin Mace]

2. Well, what did people expect?

This has been happening for years. Bezos is just the latest guy to by a propaganda arm for his oligarchy.

[Warpy]

3. Major papers out of the hands of media conglomerates

is a good idea and I'm delighted it's happening. Media conglomerates found they were too low profit to be effective cash cows and gutted them. Maybe this will start reversing the process, even though we can't count on anything sensible on the editorial page.

[Zen Democrat]

4. Anyone who bought WaPo would have to be crazy rich. At least it's not a NeoCon or Teabagger!

[pscot]

5. I guess this means I'll be able to read whatever it's called

on my kindle.

[silvershadow]

25. One can hope. nt

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. The paper that brought us the biggest political scandal of the time,

and ended Nixon's political career.
Sadly, Woodward did not live up to his promising career.
Christopher Hitchens accused Woodward of acting as "stenographer to the rich and powerful."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Woodward#cite_note-40

wonder where Woodward will go now....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Woodward#cite_note-40

[LiberalEsto]

9. It has not lived up to that reputation for many years

The Washington Post is our local paper and it's been a total disappointment to us for the 23 years we've lived in Maryland. With one exception: it has good comic pages and a great editorial cartoonist, Tom Toles.

The Post has been losing money for years; the company was bolstered by the earnings from Kaplan.

One can just hope, and cross fingers, that by some miracle it becomes more liberal.

[Just Saying]

7. Is he a Democrat?

I know he supported gay marriage and put his millions where his mouth is.


http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/videos/100-mph-crash.htm

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos pledged $2.5 million to defend Washington's gay-marriage law, likely the largest political contribution to a gay-marriage campaign in the country.

[onehandle]

15. He's donated to Republicans, Democrats, but mostly to the 'Amazon PAC.'

Which has been dumping millions into Boehner's Congress.

Gay marriage is no longer a political barometer when it comes to big business. A lot of profit in gay marriage.

[PoliticAverse]

19. He's mainly personally given to Democrats...

http://www.newsmeat.com/billionaire_political_donations/Jeff_Bezos.php

[pscot]

26. Libertarian, according to Wikipedia

He wants to build luxury resorts in orbital space, a clear indication he has too much money.

[HardTimes99]

28. Ugh. What a piece of work! - nt

[catrose]

8. So does this mean

I'll never have to read another article by Sally Quinn ever?
Although her byline accompanied by the department name "On Faith" was always rofl-worthy.

[LiberalEsto]

10. Oh happy thought!

Yes, she IS rather full of herself, isn't she?

[PoliticAverse]

18. Have you seen this DU thread ? n/t

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017136340

[Roselma]

11. Katherine Weymouth is staying on to run the paper.

We probably won't see much change.

[DallasNE]

12. No Mention Of Warren Buffetts Holding

Last edited Mon Aug 5, 2013, 05:53 PM - Edit history (1)

Warren Buffett through Berkshire-Hathaway has long held a nearly 25% holding in the Washington Post so is this holding affected by this move. It also does not include Slate.com, a holding that has struggled every since Microsoft (I think) sold its share about 6-7 years ago.

[bananas]

13. Bezos is also in a bidding war for Launch Complex 39A

http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/24/elon-musk-jeff-bezos-nasa-39a/

Elon Musk vs. Jeff Bezos: Billionaires bid for NASA's space shuttle launchpad

By Mariella Moon posted Jul 24th, 2013

Here's an epic fight that won't take place inside the octagon: Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are apparently competing to take over a NASA launchpad... and instead of dishing out jiu-jitsu moves, they're letting money do the talking. In particular, the dotcom billionaires' space companies, Blue Origin and SpaceX, are bidding for Kennedy Space Center's historic Launch Complex 39A -- site of NASA's first and last space shuttle blast-off. Each company's plan for 39A is to launch both unmanned missions and shuttles carrying commercial customers and astronaut crews into space. Bezos' Blue Origin, however, also aims to turn it into a multi-use facility where other companies can launch their rockets for a price. NASA's keeping bidding details on the down low, but seeing as it wants to offload 39A in October to save money, we'll know soon enough who'll win this battle of the dollars.

VIA: The Verge
SOURCE: NBC News

[BadGimp]

14. There was a time not long ago where this would feel like good news..

re: "Oh great... The CEO of the Walmart of Internet sales buys the pro-Pentagon, pro-big business WaPo to lobby for his company.

What could go wrong?"

anymore I am not so sure. i'm a big Amazon customer and fan, but this concerns me not so much as it relates to Bezos as it portends the future of real journalisim...

thx for the post... (pun intended)

[leveymg]

17. From Herblock to Amazon.com in one lousy generation.

Guess the decline started a long time ago. Still, amazing how fast they fall once the tipping point is reached.

[LiberalEsto]

21. Don't forget Tom Toles, their current editorial cartoonist

Toles is wonderful and I hope they keep him in that position.

[leveymg]

22. He's wonderful, too. Wish the rest of the editorial page and the news staff were as good

Actually, there are some good reporters, but the editorial line of the paper and the Publisher are way past their shelf life. Stale is a nice word for it. They say, a fish's brain rots first.

Same with the Grey Lady. She's next on the block.

[frazzled]

20. Amazonerica

And by the way, WaPo recently went paywall. No more reading, say, Wonkblog (well, you can look at 10 posts a month).

[totodeinhere]

24. To get around their paywall open a private browsing window in your browser. n/t

[totodeinhere]

23. I hope he treats his new employees at the Post better than he treats thousands of

workers at Amazon's low wage sweatshop distribution warehouses.

[HardTimes99]

27. There's a serious historical error in the source article. The WaPo DID NOT

break the story of the Pentagon Papers! The New York Times (Neil Sheehan) did.

Living in LA, I understand well the principle of self-puffery. But Jeez!

On a semi-serious note, this gives new meaning to the phrase 'vanity publishing'.

[Safetykitten]

29. So Cool! Now the guy that owns Costco can buy The NYT! It's paradise.