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Mr. Bezos has told others involved with The Post that he is interested in expanding The Post’s audience among conservatives, according to a person familiar with

Mr. Bezos has told others involved with The Post that he is interested in expanding The Post’s audience among conservatives, according to a person familiar with the matter. He has appointed Mr. Lewis — a chief executive who previously worked at the Rupert Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal — and has informed Mr. Lewis that he wants more conservative writers on the opinion section, the person said. -- https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/25/business/media/washington-post-presidential-endorsement.html He is making a serious play to capture an audience from the other half of the country. There is no way to do that without losing a painful share of his current reach.

mandevil 2y ago
The false story of the frog in the pot applies here: if you want to make a change like that it has to be slow and steady, at an imperceptible pace. Doing something big and obvious destroys your pivot. You've lost trust with your existing customer base with out actually getting anything from your new, intended customer base. Again, announce this two years ago and it's a nothing burger and you could be working on that stated process (speaking for myself I don't think it likely to work, but it's at least a plan). Doing it now, in this way- after the editorial was already written- it's a big deal.
- delichon 2y ago
  > You've lost trust with your existing customer base with out actually getting anything from your new, intended customer base. You may not be aware of the new profound respect Bezos is getting from Musk and friends on X. Deep testaments to Bezos' character are suddenly flying freely around. Those devotions are invisible to most people who aren't on the right. But they make an impression on the audience that Bezos says he is after.
  - mandevil 2y ago
    That may be true for Bezos himself- but do you think that respect and affirmation will trickle down to the Washington Post and net them new subscribers? I'm extremely skeptical. This is not the first time someone has tried this pivot, e.g. the Post's old stablemate Newsweek, and it's not an easy thing to do.

mandevil 2y ago

The false story of the frog in the pot applies here: if you want to make a change like that it has to be slow and steady, at an imperceptible pace. Doing something big and obvious destroys your pivot. You've lost trust with your existing customer base with out actually getting anything from your new, intended customer base. Again, announce this two years ago and it's a nothing burger and you could be working on that stated process (speaking for myself I don't think it likely to work, but it's at least a plan). Doing it now, in this way- after the editorial was already written- it's a big deal.

delichon 2y ago
> You've lost trust with your existing customer base with out actually getting anything from your new, intended customer base. You may not be aware of the new profound respect Bezos is getting from Musk and friends on X. Deep testaments to Bezos' character are suddenly flying freely around. Those devotions are invisible to most people who aren't on the right. But they make an impression on the audience that Bezos says he is after.
- mandevil 2y ago
  That may be true for Bezos himself- but do you think that respect and affirmation will trickle down to the Washington Post and net them new subscribers? I'm extremely skeptical. This is not the first time someone has tried this pivot, e.g. the Post's old stablemate Newsweek, and it's not an easy thing to do.