The Washington Post sold to Jeff Bezos of Amazon

[finnbow]

My hometown paper, The Post, was sold today to Jeff Bezos of Amazon. I believe it's the best newspaper in the country and I hope it remains so. I suppose Bezos' objective is to figure out how to make money off of a newspaper on the web, something nobody else has really done.

Katherine Weymouth will remain the Publisher and will keep management in the Graham family. BTW, her aunt if Tina Weymouth, the Talking Heads' bassist. She, like her aunt, is both very attractive, smart and accomplished.

[whell]

But there will be change, Bezos said.

"That's essential and would have happened with or without new ownership," Bezos said. "The Internet is transforming almost every element of the news business: shortening news cycles, eroding long-reliable revenue sources, and enabling new kinds of competition, some of which bear little or no news-gathering costs. There is no map, and charting a path ahead will not be easy. We will need to invent, which means we will need to experiment. Our touchstone will be readers, understanding what they care about – government, local leaders, restaurant openings, scout troops, businesses, charities, governors, sports – and working backwards from there. I'm excited and optimistic about the opportunity for invention."

The rush toward the low information voter?

[finnbow]

But there will be change, Bezos said.

"That's essential and would have happened with or without new ownership," Bezos said. "The Internet is transforming almost every element of the news business: shortening news cycles, eroding long-reliable revenue sources, and enabling new kinds of competition, some of which bear little or no news-gathering costs. There is no map, and charting a path ahead will not be easy. We will need to invent, which means we will need to experiment. Our touchstone will be readers, understanding what they care about – government, local leaders, restaurant openings, scout troops, businesses, charities, governors, sports – and working backwards from there. I'm excited and optimistic about the opportunity for invention."

The rush toward the low information voter?

Fox and Talk Radio have long since secured that demographic.

If you read the Post cover-to-cover on a daily basis, you're anything but a low information voter IMO.

[icenine]

Fox and Talk Radio have long since secured that demographic.

If you read the Post cover-to-cover on a daily basis, you're anything but a low information voter IMO.

Most true.

A low information voter will have books by Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin on their shelves at home;)

(that is an oblique reference to someone lol here but here only occasionally lol);)

Whell low information voter is another word for Tea Party member.

[bobabode]

Fox and Talk Radio have long since secured that demographic.

If you read the Post cover-to-cover on a daily basis, you're anything but a low information voter IMO.

Yep, nothing like the Post in the morning with coffee. I wish they would deliver it out here in California but I'll settle for a web subscription and the Sunday LA Times delivered to my doorstep for my newspaper fix.

[Zeke]

Yep, nothing like the Post in the morning with coffee. I wish they would deliver it out here in California but I'll settle for a web subscription...

Hence the new business model?

[bobabode]

Hence the new business model?

;)Indeed, Zeke. It was a no brainer to kick $10 per month their way for unlimited access to their website. If for nothing else than to piss off my bud from Detroit.:rolleyes:

[bobabode]

"Bezos, who ranks 11th on the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest individuals in the United States, has given little indication of his ideological leanings over the years. He has not been a heavy contributor to political campaigns, although he and his wife have regularly donated to the campaign of Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) (http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/patty-murray-d-wash/gIQARXaU9O_topic.html). In years past, they had given modest contributions to a handful of Republican and Democratic senators.
Bezos’s political profile rose suddenly and sharply when he and his wife, MacKenzie, agreed last year to donate $2.5 million to help pass a referendum measure that would legalize same-sex marriage in Washington state, catapulting them to the top ranks of financial backers of gay rights in the country. The donation doubled the money available to the initiative, which was approved in November and made Washington among the first states to pass same-sex marriage by popular vote".

Sounds like Bezos' heart and mind are in the right place.

[Rex E.]

"Bezos, who ranks 11th on the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest individuals in the United States, has given little indication of his ideological leanings over the years. He has not been a heavy contributor to political campaigns, although he and his wife have regularly donated to the campaign of Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) (http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/patty-murray-d-wash/gIQARXaU9O_topic.html). In years past, they had given modest contributions to a handful of Republican and Democratic senators.
Bezos’s political profile rose suddenly and sharply when he and his wife, MacKenzie, agreed last year to donate $2.5 million to help pass a referendum measure that would legalize same-sex marriage in Washington state, catapulting them to the top ranks of financial backers of gay rights in the country. The donation doubled the money available to the initiative, which was approved in November and made Washington among the first states to pass same-sex marriage by popular vote".

Sounds like Bezos' heart and mind are in the right place.

Sounds like Washington state is leading the battle in peoples freedoms and doing away with silly laws that only keep folks down.....

[Rajoo]

I am hoping that I can get WaPo for free with my amazon Prime subscription. :)

[piece-itpete]

Isn't he the one who's pushing sales tax on internet sales?

Pete

[bobabode]

Isn't he the one who's pushing sales tax on internet sales?

Pete

Ayup. What's wrong with paying sales taxes? They fund all sorts of infrastructure that you enjoy every day, bro.:) We pay 8% + in Californication.:cool:

[hillbilly]

Ayup. What's wrong with paying sales taxes? They fund all sorts of infrastructure that you enjoy every day, bro.:) We pay 8% + in Californication.:cool:

9.25% in Tennessee. Even on food. I remember someone from GA saying they paid sales tax, but not on food ( but that coulda changed as it's been years since talking to him ). Do y'all have food tax also?

[merrylander]

I am hoping that I can get WaPo for free with my amazon Prime subscription. :)

T'aint free but it is in our mailbox every morning.

[merrylander]

9.25% in Tennessee. Even on food. I remember someone from GA saying they paid sales tax, but not on food ( but that coulda changed as it's been years since talking to him ). Do y'all have food tax also?

No tax on food here, back home there even was no tax on books although that may have changed with Harper's gang in charge.

[Oerets]

Isn't he the one who's pushing sales tax on internet sales?

Pete

Why should they not pay? I feel it should be a Federal sales tax then divvy'd up to the local. Same percentage for all locals. Did the retailers not ask for consideration when starting up because of the unknown risk of internet sales. Well we now know the risks and rewards.


As for paying for content of news papers, should of been done long ago.


Barney

[piece-itpete]

I buy newspapers :)

So am I correct in assuming that when we buy stuff out of state online we voluntarily send our states a check for the tax? 'We' definitely NOT including me btw ;)

Pete