How Jeff Bezos Upended The Washington Post
The billionaire newspaper owner, dissatisfied by years of losses, wants the newsroom to double productivity with half its budget.
The New York Times | 03-14-26 | Benjamin Mullin, Erik Wemple & Katie Robertson
This is a gift🎁link, so there is no paywall.
Mr. Bezos outlined his political and economic beliefs, which boiled down to a mix of libertarian and pro-business policies, according to two people with knowledge of the talks. He also wondered aloud whether the paper should stop endorsing candidates in presidential elections. Both changes would reverse decades of tradition at the newspaper, whose editorial board had regularly endorsed Democratic candidates. He offered a blunt response when David Shipley, the opinion editor, noted that changing the editorial ideology could turn off some subscribers. “I don’t care,” he said, according to a person with knowledge of the exchange.
Ironically, despite Bezos claiming not to care if he puts off "some subscribers" with The Post's new conservative "editorial ideology" that champions "personal liberties and free markets", Bezos has continued to claim he is making changes to the WaPo so that eventually The Post will be able "to pay for itself."
However, it isn't too surprising that The Post's new "Fox News Lite" editorial stance has caused the WaPo to lose hundreds of thousands of subscribers since just before the 2024 election.
Alienating subscribers is an odd business model for Bezos to pursue in hopes of making The Post solvent again.
The math just doesn't add up.
________________________ Photo illustration/GIF sources (before edits): Bezos/WaPo illustration; Confused Math Guy GIF