3 ms·

A lot of Malda's thesis seems subjective; a more interesting statement was just a brief mention at the top of the article: > Then, after taking a year off, [Ma

A lot of Malda's thesis seems subjective; a more interesting statement was just a brief mention at the top of the article: > Then, after taking a year off, [Malda] joined WaPo Labs, a technology incubator owned by the Washington Post Company, the parent company of the Washington Post. (WaPo Labs is not among the companies being purchased by Jeff Bezos.) I wonder why that is? I don't want to derail the discussion, but I had assumed (incorrectly) that Bezos was acquiring the full Washington Post collective. It strikes me as odd that he would neglect one of the elements that made WaPo, in my mind, somewhat unique. I'll try to stay away from speculation, but I can't help but wonder if some of Bezos's other labs might be integrated into WaPo's technology portfolio? Is that possible, when the purchase was unaffiliated with Amazon?

_delirium 13y ago
He didn't buy the actual company, only some of the newspapers: the Post itself, and a number of local papers. The Washington Post Co. itself will remain independent, but will have to change its name, and will retain Kaplan, WaPo Labs, Slate, about 10 local TV stations, SocialCode, and some other things.
- cschmidt 13y ago
  As I understand things, Kaplan was the big money spinner that subsidized the newspapers. It is interesting they kept that part.
- snowwrestler 13y ago
  But what is the point of WaPo Labs without the WaPo? Are they going to rebrand to some sort of general-purpose tech startup or incubator? Or are they going to keep doing innovation for WaPo, only now on a contractual basis? (Creating recurring revenue for the public company.)
  - _delirium 13y ago
    I dug a bit and found that some kind of cross-licensing deal is included: WaPo Labs gets a 5-year content license, in return for 10% of any profits. However it sounds like they're planning to move towards doing more general tech-for-media stuff rather than WaPo-tied stuff. Source: 2nd-to-last question from http://www.niemanlab.org/2013/08/don-graham-on-the-sale-of-the-washington-post-jeff-bezos-and-the-pace-of-newsroom-innovation/ http://www.niemanlab.org/2013/08/don-graham-on-the-sale-of-t...
mason240 13y ago
Yeah, upon hearing the news I assumed that WaPo Labs was what Bezos was really after so this is surprising.
john_b 13y ago
It is curious that Bezos didn't also acquire WaPo labs when he released this statement right after the purchase was announced: > "There will, of course, be change at The Post over the coming years. That’s essential and would have happened with or without new ownership. 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...I’m excited and optimistic about the opportunity for invention." [1] Based on Malda's statements, it sounds like they are trying to tackle the same problems. [1] http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/jeff-bezos-on-post-purchase/2013/08/05/e5b293de-fe0d-11e2-9711-3708310f6f4d_story.html?Post+generic=%3Ftid%3Dsm_twitter_washingtonpost http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/jeff-bezos-on-post-pu...

_delirium 13y ago

He didn't buy the actual company, only some of the newspapers: the Post itself, and a number of local papers. The Washington Post Co. itself will remain independent, but will have to change its name, and will retain Kaplan, WaPo Labs, Slate, about 10 local TV stations, SocialCode, and some other things.

cschmidt 13y ago
As I understand things, Kaplan was the big money spinner that subsidized the newspapers. It is interesting they kept that part.
snowwrestler 13y ago
But what is the point of WaPo Labs without the WaPo? Are they going to rebrand to some sort of general-purpose tech startup or incubator? Or are they going to keep doing innovation for WaPo, only now on a contractual basis? (Creating recurring revenue for the public company.)
- _delirium 13y ago
  I dug a bit and found that some kind of cross-licensing deal is included: WaPo Labs gets a 5-year content license, in return for 10% of any profits. However it sounds like they're planning to move towards doing more general tech-for-media stuff rather than WaPo-tied stuff. Source: 2nd-to-last question from http://www.niemanlab.org/2013/08/don-graham-on-the-sale-of-the-washington-post-jeff-bezos-and-the-pace-of-newsroom-innovation/ http://www.niemanlab.org/2013/08/don-graham-on-the-sale-of-t...

mason240 13y ago

Yeah, upon hearing the news I assumed that WaPo Labs was what Bezos was really after so this is surprising.

john_b 13y ago

It is curious that Bezos didn't also acquire WaPo labs when he released this statement right after the purchase was announced: > "There will, of course, be change at The Post over the coming years. That’s essential and would have happened with or without new ownership. 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...I’m excited and optimistic about the opportunity for invention." [1] Based on Malda's statements, it sounds like they are trying to tackle the same problems. [1] http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/jeff-bezos-on-post-purchase/2013/08/05/e5b293de-fe0d-11e2-9711-3708310f6f4d_story.html?Post+generic=%3Ftid%3Dsm_twitter_washingtonpost http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/jeff-bezos-on-post-pu...