4 ms·

Washington post has been becoming increasingly irrelevant. They went from 500-800k paid subscribers to less than 100k after Bezos started interfering editoriall

by pm90 1y ago

Washington post has been becoming increasingly irrelevant. They went from 500-800k paid subscribers to less than 100k after Bezos started interfering editorially. Some of the most respected journalists left the paper. So I wouldn’t take WaPo as an indicator of anything; its a Bozos Vanity Project and nothing else.

quantummagic 1y ago
Your post is worthy of a rap song by Ad Homeminem.
- cluckindan 1y ago
  ”Bozos Vanity” by Ad Homeminem: Yeah, they preach about truth, but the ink ran dry, Bought the headlines, thought clout could buy the sky. Bezos in the lobby, pullin’ strings, that’s the show, Turned the Post into a post nobody wants to know. Five hundred K deep, now it’s tumbleweed clicks, Writers jump ship while the suits play tricks. Never trust the press when it’s built on a throne, Every page now reads like a PR zone. Ad Homeminem, I don’t bow, I expose, I talk numbers, they talk prose. Media’s a mirror, cracked and vain, You can’t buy truth with billionaire pain. Generated using Perplexity for maximum irony.
  - skeeter2020 1y ago
    Is posting the prompt today's equivalent of liner notes?
  - skeledrew 1y ago
    I can actually feel this. Very slick rhymes.
CGMthrowaway 1y ago
What do you mean? A source says wapo has 130K print and 2.5M online subs.[1] Compare NYT with 660K print and 9.7M online[2] which I imagine have fallen off proportionally in line with wapo.[3] [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Post https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Post [2]https://www.niemanlab.org/2024/02/the-new-york-times-made-more-than-1-billion-from-digital-subscriptions-in-2023/ https://www.niemanlab.org/2024/02/the-new-york-times-made-mo... [3]https://fourweekmba.com/the-new-york-times-print-subscribers/ https://fourweekmba.com/the-new-york-times-print-subscribers...
- Noumenon72 1y ago
  Also, that Post figure is from 2023, so subscriptions were that low even before the editorial interference.
throw0101c 1y ago
> So I wouldn’t take WaPo as an indicator of anything; its a Bozos Vanity Project and nothing else. Meanwhile Laurene Powell (Steve Jobs' widow) owns The Atlantic, and their subscriptions are up and they are now profitable: * https://wan-ifra.org/2025/05/how-the-atlantic-keeps-subscribers-without-cutting-prices/ https://wan-ifra.org/2025/05/how-the-atlantic-keeps-subscrib... * https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/11/media/the-atlantic-magazine-print-monthly-subscription https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/11/media/the-atlantic-magazine-p... * https://www.pugpig.com/2025/03/14/the-content-and-revenue-lessons-from-the-atlantics-turnaround/ https://www.pugpig.com/2025/03/14/the-content-and-revenue-le... One can have a well-run 'vanity project' or a badly-run one.
- dotancohen 1y ago
  Always happy for a new news source, I just took a look at the Atlantic. It doesn't seem to have any news, just articles about news. Interesting concept.
  - throw0101c 1y ago
    > It doesn't seem to have any news, just articles about news. Interesting concept. Atlantic is/was a monthly magazine so they're not trying to do 'scoops' as much as a traditional daily or weekly magazine. Of course in the current age they do have to post regularly somewhat for traffic: but they've generally been about taking a step and perhaps looking a the bigger picture. For example, on the politics side they have David Frum, former speech writer for George W. Bush (#43): * https://www.theatlantic.com/author/david-frum/ https://www.theatlantic.com/author/david-frum/ * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Frum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Frum And Tom Nichols, who taught international affairs and national-security at the U.S. Naval War College: * https://www.theatlantic.com/author/tom-nichols/ https://www.theatlantic.com/author/tom-nichols/ * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Nichols_(academic) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Nichols_(academic)
- tialaramex 1y ago
  Does Powell make editorial decisions at The Atlantic ? The problem I think is implied to be the choice to meddle with editorial not per se the choice for wealthy individuals to own such a publication. I'd be interested with people who buy sports teams and interfere in running the team - does that go similarly poorly? Does it turn out that billionaires aren't great at choosing the team composition and strategy for NFL games ? Surprised Pikachu Face 'cos sure seems like Bezos doesn't understand how to write a great newspaper...
genghisjahn 1y ago
The wapo still has over a million paid subscribers. “The publication has now shed 250,000 subscribers, or 10% of the 2.5 million customers it had before the decision was made public on Friday, according to the NPR reporter David Folkenflik” https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/oct/29/washington-post-subscriber-cancellations https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/oct/29/washington-pos...
intended 1y ago
This is the kind of reassurance that misses the message. News cannot survive, because it has no real revenue stream. the NYT figured out video games as a solution.
- bogzz 1y ago
  ...I actually paid for their games app yesterday. I do really like them though.
- wisemang 1y ago
  Not sure I’d call them _video_ games per se but anecdotally (me) it does work. That said NYT crossword has existed for much longer, puzzle games are a longstanding feature of many newspapers.
  - intended 1y ago
    Argh… yes … I was being lazy, and definitely didnt want to spend the calories figuring out or coining the right classification for what the NYT is doing. Yes, the crossword has existed for longer, but it was never the core source of funding. It’s interesting, and I doubt it can scale - every newspaper has its own puzzle section?
    - wisemang 1y ago
      Right I guess in the old model they were often syndicated. But as a kid I remember seeing things like the jumble, word search, cryptic something or other etc. in my local small-ish city newspaper
terminalshort 1y ago
The Washington Post died when they decided their job was to be activists instead of neutral observers. Jeff Bezos is just another nail in the coffin.

by pm90 1y ago

quantummagic 1y ago

Your post is worthy of a rap song by Ad Homeminem.

cluckindan 1y ago
”Bozos Vanity” by Ad Homeminem: Yeah, they preach about truth, but the ink ran dry, Bought the headlines, thought clout could buy the sky. Bezos in the lobby, pullin’ strings, that’s the show, Turned the Post into a post nobody wants to know. Five hundred K deep, now it’s tumbleweed clicks, Writers jump ship while the suits play tricks. Never trust the press when it’s built on a throne, Every page now reads like a PR zone. Ad Homeminem, I don’t bow, I expose, I talk numbers, they talk prose. Media’s a mirror, cracked and vain, You can’t buy truth with billionaire pain. Generated using Perplexity for maximum irony.
- skeeter2020 1y ago
  Is posting the prompt today's equivalent of liner notes?
- skeledrew 1y ago
  I can actually feel this. Very slick rhymes.

CGMthrowaway 1y ago

What do you mean? A source says wapo has 130K print and 2.5M online subs.[1] Compare NYT with 660K print and 9.7M online[2] which I imagine have fallen off proportionally in line with wapo.[3] [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Post https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Post [2]https://www.niemanlab.org/2024/02/the-new-york-times-made-more-than-1-billion-from-digital-subscriptions-in-2023/ https://www.niemanlab.org/2024/02/the-new-york-times-made-mo... [3]https://fourweekmba.com/the-new-york-times-print-subscribers/ https://fourweekmba.com/the-new-york-times-print-subscribers...

Noumenon72 1y ago
Also, that Post figure is from 2023, so subscriptions were that low even before the editorial interference.

throw0101c 1y ago

> So I wouldn’t take WaPo as an indicator of anything; its a Bozos Vanity Project and nothing else. Meanwhile Laurene Powell (Steve Jobs' widow) owns The Atlantic, and their subscriptions are up and they are now profitable: * https://wan-ifra.org/2025/05/how-the-atlantic-keeps-subscribers-without-cutting-prices/ https://wan-ifra.org/2025/05/how-the-atlantic-keeps-subscrib... * https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/11/media/the-atlantic-magazine-print-monthly-subscription https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/11/media/the-atlantic-magazine-p... * https://www.pugpig.com/2025/03/14/the-content-and-revenue-lessons-from-the-atlantics-turnaround/ https://www.pugpig.com/2025/03/14/the-content-and-revenue-le... One can have a well-run 'vanity project' or a badly-run one.

dotancohen 1y ago
Always happy for a new news source, I just took a look at the Atlantic. It doesn't seem to have any news, just articles about news. Interesting concept.
- throw0101c 1y ago
  > It doesn't seem to have any news, just articles about news. Interesting concept. Atlantic is/was a monthly magazine so they're not trying to do 'scoops' as much as a traditional daily or weekly magazine. Of course in the current age they do have to post regularly somewhat for traffic: but they've generally been about taking a step and perhaps looking a the bigger picture. For example, on the politics side they have David Frum, former speech writer for George W. Bush (#43): * https://www.theatlantic.com/author/david-frum/ https://www.theatlantic.com/author/david-frum/ * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Frum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Frum And Tom Nichols, who taught international affairs and national-security at the U.S. Naval War College: * https://www.theatlantic.com/author/tom-nichols/ https://www.theatlantic.com/author/tom-nichols/ * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Nichols_(academic) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Nichols_(academic)
tialaramex 1y ago
Does Powell make editorial decisions at The Atlantic ? The problem I think is implied to be the choice to meddle with editorial not per se the choice for wealthy individuals to own such a publication. I'd be interested with people who buy sports teams and interfere in running the team - does that go similarly poorly? Does it turn out that billionaires aren't great at choosing the team composition and strategy for NFL games ? Surprised Pikachu Face 'cos sure seems like Bezos doesn't understand how to write a great newspaper...

genghisjahn 1y ago

The wapo still has over a million paid subscribers. “The publication has now shed 250,000 subscribers, or 10% of the 2.5 million customers it had before the decision was made public on Friday, according to the NPR reporter David Folkenflik” https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/oct/29/washington-post-subscriber-cancellations https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/oct/29/washington-pos...

intended 1y ago

This is the kind of reassurance that misses the message. News cannot survive, because it has no real revenue stream. the NYT figured out video games as a solution.

bogzz 1y ago
...I actually paid for their games app yesterday. I do really like them though.
wisemang 1y ago
Not sure I’d call them _video_ games per se but anecdotally (me) it does work. That said NYT crossword has existed for much longer, puzzle games are a longstanding feature of many newspapers.
- intended 1y ago
  Argh… yes … I was being lazy, and definitely didnt want to spend the calories figuring out or coining the right classification for what the NYT is doing. Yes, the crossword has existed for longer, but it was never the core source of funding. It’s interesting, and I doubt it can scale - every newspaper has its own puzzle section?
  - wisemang 1y ago
    Right I guess in the old model they were often syndicated. But as a kid I remember seeing things like the jumble, word search, cryptic something or other etc. in my local small-ish city newspaper

terminalshort 1y ago

The Washington Post died when they decided their job was to be activists instead of neutral observers. Jeff Bezos is just another nail in the coffin.