I finished reading Collision last Friday. I was actually ready to consider subscribing, based on the integrity shown in that portrayal. I'm glad you followed up with recent history, because I would not have known and I will now continue my general boycott of all things Bezos.
I will let my WaPo subscription lapse when it expires in September and I was an early subscriber to the Contrarian.
I couldn’t finish the book because I knew what would happen - and, having worked in newspapers until 2007, I wasn’t surprised when it happened. I’m glad that we have the Contrarian, Texas Tribune and Pro Publica, but they don’t cover local news. A lot of what’s going on is happening in school districts, cities and counties. The Founders based our democracy on an informed electorate (even if it was only white male landowners). It was challenging in 1776 and it’s challenging now.
Great discussion here! My WAPO subscription will not renew this August and I have moved on to other media.
I think the WaPo will die soon.
We are in strange times: our media options have greatly expanded, leaving legacy media in the dust for the most part. But people are not investing time in actually reading and thinking. Pew Research in 2024 revealed that 1/3 of Americans get their "news" from social media. And by news, I suspect that means only the click-baiting headlines. And then as you noted, Susan, most of us seek a matching POV. Add to that Americans' lack of knowledge about our history, our founding documents, and the philosophical foundations of democracy...and well, one has to wonder how we have survived as long as we have.
Which I suspect the Conservative faction that is driving Project 2025 understands and wants to eliminate higher education freedoms and faculty, and rewrite history. So, I am moving to digital media outlets that are biased toward democratic ideals and historical and current truths. I also like to understand intelligent POVs.
Thanks, Sue--I'll take a look at Tangle. It's totally new to me.
The valuable thing about print newspapers--which I'm grateful for every time I do some historical research--is that they're *accessible.* They are the record of reported facts: what happened and when and where. They're physical (even when they're digitized). Revisions of history can be checked against this historical record, and compared and cross-referenced, so that multiple POV can be studied. Digitized just doesn't stay accessible as long. The WayBack Machine still operates but you have to know what you're looking for--and even then it's hard to find.
Excellent post. I was one of those who left WaPo. I like the Guardian and NYT. I miss having many news agencies, instead of many that are related under different names. I understand the damage Trump can do and why they fear it, but if someone with the money to withstand the assault won't stand up, it's clearly about ethics. I have no respect for those people.
I listened to the audio book last month. I found it fascinating - I learned a lot about the newspaper business and how it has evolved in the last 15 years or so. I was impressed by Bezos’ support of the Post as an independent media outlet and his willingness to challenge the Trump administration. I subscribed to the Washington Post for that very reason - they were not afraid to stand up to the Trump spin, lies and intimidation. And they provided great writing and editorials. But things changed. I canceled my subscription when they blocked Ann Telnaes cartoon from running - that was the final straw for me. I am disgusted with how Bezos went from being a champion of the free press to groveling at Trump’s feet. I now longer shop on Amazon if there is any alternative, and I don’t use Google’s search engine.
Legacy media - I subscribe to the Atlantic and the New York Times. I follow The Contrarian on Substack, and just became a subscriber. They have some former (award winning) Washington Post writers, reporters and the aforementioned Ann Telnaes. They are also filing litigation to push back against the dismantling of our democracy.
I want legacy media to grow a spine and stand up to Trump’s corruption and illegal power grabs.
I have never used Amazon, I cancelled WaPo, and don’t use Google Search engine either. Bezos did and does much more harm than good. Guess why he decided to drink the Kool Aid and become sorta MAGA.
Susan, thank you for this terrific piece on the POST. The demise of newspapers is changing our national landscape radically. As a friend just pointed out--our Austin American Statesman has been put on such an extreme diet it's too skinny for words and can't even cover local news the way we need. Where do we go for news, with even our VOICE OF AMERICA silenced, for goodness sake? Thank you again.
OMG - thank you for saying what I have been mumbling for the last week! The Gilded Age has returned, though I don't think it ever left.
When Sanchez showed up at a WH dinner in a corset with her breasts spilling all over the place, my 1970s/first wave feminism kicked into high gear.
All that money, with so many things to be concerned about , with the ability to help make the world a better place.
But I also hold wedding attendees guilty: the Clintons, Oprah - people who made money preaching social justice and liberal values who then attend a 50 million dollar ceremony in a city that didn't want them.
Must be some kind of wealthy brain worm that turns off compassion and integrity.
Yes yes yes!!! Ugly opulence. Ultra-rich Americans at their most decadent--the whole lot of them. I have to believe that Bezos was trying to out-do, out-spend, out-opulent Clooney. Ended up just looking a lot more exploitative.
I'm sure her lawyers saw to it that she got a goodly bundle. MacKenzie Scott (the first Mrs. Bezos) did well: the settlement included a 4% stake in Amazon.com, valued then at approximately $38 billion. Made her one of the wealthiest women in the world. (Meow too 😼)
I'm not usually so catty, but really, when America is suffering, such a display of opulence was not called for especially when the Washington Post has been so destroyed and freedom of thought and speak is on the line I wonder what his ex employees thought of it.
I thought so too, Liz. And then to add irony to irony, Bill Moyers died yesterday. I had to wonder what comments he would have on that lavish wedding--and the closure, the same week, of WaPo's Metro section.
Change is always difficult. Those who love the WaPo (great acronym) cannot conceive of the loss of their beloved newspaper, well known for journalistic reveals.
I will play the devil's advocate. Had Bezos not purchased the newspaper, would it have survived at all? Was there any other buyer willing to purchase it? Would it have ever successfully transitioned to the digital resource I suspect it needs to be?
I do not believe he purchased it to preserve its historic role. There is no doubt that it is changing under Bezos' direction.
I wish I had answers. We can lament the loss of what the newspaper was; then, for me, I feel like it is time to move forward. If newspapers like the historic WaPo cannot serve in its desired role, then what other alternatives can be found to help counteract the "untruths" so espoused by the current administration.
I have no answers; but I believe sharing ideas and resources can help in the search.
You certainly have a point, Georgeann--especially given the shifting digital environment, into which Bezos certainly has been a bridge, and a mentor. And as Susan Tweit observes in her comments, the loss of one paper can open a space for another: witness the sale of the Denver Post and the creation of the Colorado Sun.
And there are other national indies ready to take on the WaPo's role: the Guardian (American edition) and ProPublica, for instance. Both of them have a strong, hugely effective digital presence, unimpeded by the need to service the print customers, too. And both are countering the many false narratives that are being churned out. It's just sad to see the old flagship sink--and sad that Bezos couldn't live up to the challenge, or to the privilege his money bought.
I agree with your last sentence, very well stated: no answers here, just a clear awareness of what's happening, and how and why and who.
I still read The Washington Post for one reason. I had an annual subscription and it hasn't expired. Bezos' activities the last few months reminds me of the owner of an engineering firm in San Antonio. He always said he contributed to the campaigns of both parties because he was always covered for business contracts this way. Billionaires have to protect their businesses because wealth is often only on paper. Few of them think of the real consequences.
You've put your finger on the problem, Fran. Billionaires *do* have to "protect their businesses." And if the paper helps them do that, they'll use it for that purpose, as we see with Bezos and The Post. I'm with you: my annual annual subscription hasn't expired yet--that'll happen next month. I've cancelled the auto-renew. Sadly.
Great writing, Susan and Silas! I can tell you are a skilled novelist in style and narrative arc.
As for Bezos, I've never seen someone sell his soul in such a public manner, including his garish wedding this weekend in Venice. I don't think I'll ever forgive him for having a glamorous welcome party in a closed cloister adjacent to the Madonna dell'Orto church on Thursday night, June 26. Maybe I won't forgive the Catholic church for renting this sacred feminine space.
I do appreciate the robust protests over the weekend in Venice as Europe learns to hate the Ugly American even more—our failing grace.
Kate- There are some of you we in the rest of the world love very much. My dearest and most loved mate lives in Texas!!
Fear is a terrible master it dulls the general population and makes them sheep following anything that might upset the status quo and that is what HWSNBN relies on, keeping everything unsettled, unbalanced and uncertain, just because he can, that is what makes him so dangerous His actions with Iran is a case in point
Oh, thank you for mentioning that, Kate--and for the link to the not-to-be-missed photos. Have to say that I'm totally distracted by the hazard of wardrobe malfunction with those dresses--but that's probably just me, being hopelessly out-of-date. And yes: the Ugly Americans, on display.
Those dresses are a hazard! I'm distracted by the long fingernails, rather bestial. And the face work. In feminine fairy tales, these are the stepsisters on display.
Thanks for this update on the WaPo story, Susan. Democracy certainly does die in darkness, and disinformation. And Jeff Bezos is really being true to the way he has run Amazon, starting as a bookseller: no holds barred, profit first and foremost. Any market he can disrupt for profit, he will. The saddest part about the WaPo story to me is that anyone really believed Bezos would let it continue to report freely without censorship. He has no incentive to do that, and he's making that clear now.
I think it's more a political calculus than a market motive, Susan, especially since the WaPo has been a flagship liberal paper since the early 1970s. It's super *difficult* to morph this one into a companion piece to the Wall Street Journal. And probably not profitable, unless enough Right become WaPo readers to stem the current losses. But it's certainly convenient politically, at least for the next 3.5 years. I'm wondering if a sale might be on the horizon.
Agree! But watching the sale of other landmark papers (the Denver Post, up in your corner of the world, for instance) I'm not sure how likely that is. Sigh . . .
The sale of the Denver Post (which I wrote op-ed pieces for as a "Colorado Voice" columnist) was a tragedy. It went to a hedge fund that could care less about newspapers. But out of that sale came a group of committed journalists who founded The Colorado Sun, and amazing online newspaper that has flourished and continues to provide excellent statewide news coverage, opinion and Sunday in-depth stories. The Sun has grown from two or three employees to more than two dozen, and is part of a larger group of local newspapers finding new ways to get the news out and serve their areas. It's also part of The Trust Project, a project committed to journalistic integrity. So journalism and newspapers are surviving, just in new ways.
So good to hear that the Sun continues to flourish, Susan! I've been wondering whether it has helped CO turn blue, or whether its success is a result of the political shift.
Here in Texas, we have a similar indie, the Texas Tribune, also a member of the Trust Project. It has a much better statewide coverage than any of the big-city papers. And it does excellent investigative work. For folks who aren't familiar with the Trust Project, here: a link: https://thetrustproject.org/
I think that the Sun's success is a result of the state's shift to blue, but it's hard to know. (And BTW, that shift blue is really only the Front Range--Colorado Springs/Denver Metro/Fort Collins metro--where most of the state's 5+ million people live. Here in rural Western Colorado, we're still strongly red with some blue dots here and there.)
I have heard of the Texas Tribune, but haven't looked at it. I'm glad to hear they're doing good investigative work--that's a sign that they're flourishing, because that's the journalism that costs the most. (The Sun does good investigative work too.)
I finished reading Collision last Friday. I was actually ready to consider subscribing, based on the integrity shown in that portrayal. I'm glad you followed up with recent history, because I would not have known and I will now continue my general boycott of all things Bezos.
I will let my WaPo subscription lapse when it expires in September and I was an early subscriber to the Contrarian.
I couldn’t finish the book because I knew what would happen - and, having worked in newspapers until 2007, I wasn’t surprised when it happened. I’m glad that we have the Contrarian, Texas Tribune and Pro Publica, but they don’t cover local news. A lot of what’s going on is happening in school districts, cities and counties. The Founders based our democracy on an informed electorate (even if it was only white male landowners). It was challenging in 1776 and it’s challenging now.
Great discussion here! My WAPO subscription will not renew this August and I have moved on to other media.
I think the WaPo will die soon.
We are in strange times: our media options have greatly expanded, leaving legacy media in the dust for the most part. But people are not investing time in actually reading and thinking. Pew Research in 2024 revealed that 1/3 of Americans get their "news" from social media. And by news, I suspect that means only the click-baiting headlines. And then as you noted, Susan, most of us seek a matching POV. Add to that Americans' lack of knowledge about our history, our founding documents, and the philosophical foundations of democracy...and well, one has to wonder how we have survived as long as we have.
Which I suspect the Conservative faction that is driving Project 2025 understands and wants to eliminate higher education freedoms and faculty, and rewrite history. So, I am moving to digital media outlets that are biased toward democratic ideals and historical and current truths. I also like to understand intelligent POVs.
Tangle is a newish media source that reports media from both "sides" and offers some thought-provoking essays like todays: https://www.readtangle.com/lets-have-an-authentic-racial-reckoning/
Thanks, Sue--I'll take a look at Tangle. It's totally new to me.
The valuable thing about print newspapers--which I'm grateful for every time I do some historical research--is that they're *accessible.* They are the record of reported facts: what happened and when and where. They're physical (even when they're digitized). Revisions of history can be checked against this historical record, and compared and cross-referenced, so that multiple POV can be studied. Digitized just doesn't stay accessible as long. The WayBack Machine still operates but you have to know what you're looking for--and even then it's hard to find.
Excellent post. I was one of those who left WaPo. I like the Guardian and NYT. I miss having many news agencies, instead of many that are related under different names. I understand the damage Trump can do and why they fear it, but if someone with the money to withstand the assault won't stand up, it's clearly about ethics. I have no respect for those people.
No respect. I'm there too, Penny. And that's a shame. Even if we don't agree with people in power, we ought to be able to respect them.
I listened to the audio book last month. I found it fascinating - I learned a lot about the newspaper business and how it has evolved in the last 15 years or so. I was impressed by Bezos’ support of the Post as an independent media outlet and his willingness to challenge the Trump administration. I subscribed to the Washington Post for that very reason - they were not afraid to stand up to the Trump spin, lies and intimidation. And they provided great writing and editorials. But things changed. I canceled my subscription when they blocked Ann Telnaes cartoon from running - that was the final straw for me. I am disgusted with how Bezos went from being a champion of the free press to groveling at Trump’s feet. I now longer shop on Amazon if there is any alternative, and I don’t use Google’s search engine.
Legacy media - I subscribe to the Atlantic and the New York Times. I follow The Contrarian on Substack, and just became a subscriber. They have some former (award winning) Washington Post writers, reporters and the aforementioned Ann Telnaes. They are also filing litigation to push back against the dismantling of our democracy.
I want legacy media to grow a spine and stand up to Trump’s corruption and illegal power grabs.
I have never used Amazon, I cancelled WaPo, and don’t use Google Search engine either. Bezos did and does much more harm than good. Guess why he decided to drink the Kool Aid and become sorta MAGA.
Susan, thank you for this terrific piece on the POST. The demise of newspapers is changing our national landscape radically. As a friend just pointed out--our Austin American Statesman has been put on such an extreme diet it's too skinny for words and can't even cover local news the way we need. Where do we go for news, with even our VOICE OF AMERICA silenced, for goodness sake? Thank you again.
I've just picked up the photos of the - wedding. Good grief, if she has any more plastic surgery ????
I bet the prenup was interesting, I wonder how many millions she asked for. Meow meow!!!!!
OMG - thank you for saying what I have been mumbling for the last week! The Gilded Age has returned, though I don't think it ever left.
When Sanchez showed up at a WH dinner in a corset with her breasts spilling all over the place, my 1970s/first wave feminism kicked into high gear.
All that money, with so many things to be concerned about , with the ability to help make the world a better place.
But I also hold wedding attendees guilty: the Clintons, Oprah - people who made money preaching social justice and liberal values who then attend a 50 million dollar ceremony in a city that didn't want them.
Must be some kind of wealthy brain worm that turns off compassion and integrity.
Yes yes yes!!! Ugly opulence. Ultra-rich Americans at their most decadent--the whole lot of them. I have to believe that Bezos was trying to out-do, out-spend, out-opulent Clooney. Ended up just looking a lot more exploitative.
I'm sure her lawyers saw to it that she got a goodly bundle. MacKenzie Scott (the first Mrs. Bezos) did well: the settlement included a 4% stake in Amazon.com, valued then at approximately $38 billion. Made her one of the wealthiest women in the world. (Meow too 😼)
loved your comment Susan, lets all have a good Meow MEOW it always make you feel better,
I'm not usually so catty, but really, when America is suffering, such a display of opulence was not called for especially when the Washington Post has been so destroyed and freedom of thought and speak is on the line I wonder what his ex employees thought of it.
I thought so too, Liz. And then to add irony to irony, Bill Moyers died yesterday. I had to wonder what comments he would have on that lavish wedding--and the closure, the same week, of WaPo's Metro section.
oops, sorry that should be speech not speak just shows how annoyed I was!
Change is always difficult. Those who love the WaPo (great acronym) cannot conceive of the loss of their beloved newspaper, well known for journalistic reveals.
I will play the devil's advocate. Had Bezos not purchased the newspaper, would it have survived at all? Was there any other buyer willing to purchase it? Would it have ever successfully transitioned to the digital resource I suspect it needs to be?
I do not believe he purchased it to preserve its historic role. There is no doubt that it is changing under Bezos' direction.
I wish I had answers. We can lament the loss of what the newspaper was; then, for me, I feel like it is time to move forward. If newspapers like the historic WaPo cannot serve in its desired role, then what other alternatives can be found to help counteract the "untruths" so espoused by the current administration.
I have no answers; but I believe sharing ideas and resources can help in the search.
You certainly have a point, Georgeann--especially given the shifting digital environment, into which Bezos certainly has been a bridge, and a mentor. And as Susan Tweit observes in her comments, the loss of one paper can open a space for another: witness the sale of the Denver Post and the creation of the Colorado Sun.
And there are other national indies ready to take on the WaPo's role: the Guardian (American edition) and ProPublica, for instance. Both of them have a strong, hugely effective digital presence, unimpeded by the need to service the print customers, too. And both are countering the many false narratives that are being churned out. It's just sad to see the old flagship sink--and sad that Bezos couldn't live up to the challenge, or to the privilege his money bought.
I agree with your last sentence, very well stated: no answers here, just a clear awareness of what's happening, and how and why and who.
I still read The Washington Post for one reason. I had an annual subscription and it hasn't expired. Bezos' activities the last few months reminds me of the owner of an engineering firm in San Antonio. He always said he contributed to the campaigns of both parties because he was always covered for business contracts this way. Billionaires have to protect their businesses because wealth is often only on paper. Few of them think of the real consequences.
You've put your finger on the problem, Fran. Billionaires *do* have to "protect their businesses." And if the paper helps them do that, they'll use it for that purpose, as we see with Bezos and The Post. I'm with you: my annual annual subscription hasn't expired yet--that'll happen next month. I've cancelled the auto-renew. Sadly.
Great writing, Susan and Silas! I can tell you are a skilled novelist in style and narrative arc.
As for Bezos, I've never seen someone sell his soul in such a public manner, including his garish wedding this weekend in Venice. I don't think I'll ever forgive him for having a glamorous welcome party in a closed cloister adjacent to the Madonna dell'Orto church on Thursday night, June 26. Maybe I won't forgive the Catholic church for renting this sacred feminine space.
I do appreciate the robust protests over the weekend in Venice as Europe learns to hate the Ugly American even more—our failing grace.
https://people.com/jeff-bezos-and-lauren-sanchez-celebrate-welcome-party-ahead-of-venice-wedding-photos-11761628
Kate- There are some of you we in the rest of the world love very much. My dearest and most loved mate lives in Texas!!
Fear is a terrible master it dulls the general population and makes them sheep following anything that might upset the status quo and that is what HWSNBN relies on, keeping everything unsettled, unbalanced and uncertain, just because he can, that is what makes him so dangerous His actions with Iran is a case in point
Thanks! I appreciate your kindness.
Oh, thank you for mentioning that, Kate--and for the link to the not-to-be-missed photos. Have to say that I'm totally distracted by the hazard of wardrobe malfunction with those dresses--but that's probably just me, being hopelessly out-of-date. And yes: the Ugly Americans, on display.
Those dresses are a hazard! I'm distracted by the long fingernails, rather bestial. And the face work. In feminine fairy tales, these are the stepsisters on display.
Chuckling in snarky agreement, Kate. 🫤🙄I hadn't thought about stepsisters. Do we need a Cinderella? Or are *we* she?
You are the heroine, the Cinderella! I'm the storyteller and have to take all the parts. lol
❤️
Thanks for this update on the WaPo story, Susan. Democracy certainly does die in darkness, and disinformation. And Jeff Bezos is really being true to the way he has run Amazon, starting as a bookseller: no holds barred, profit first and foremost. Any market he can disrupt for profit, he will. The saddest part about the WaPo story to me is that anyone really believed Bezos would let it continue to report freely without censorship. He has no incentive to do that, and he's making that clear now.
As usual Bezos has, like many rich and powerful beings, suddenly realized where his bread is buttered. Coward!!
I think it's more a political calculus than a market motive, Susan, especially since the WaPo has been a flagship liberal paper since the early 1970s. It's super *difficult* to morph this one into a companion piece to the Wall Street Journal. And probably not profitable, unless enough Right become WaPo readers to stem the current losses. But it's certainly convenient politically, at least for the next 3.5 years. I'm wondering if a sale might be on the horizon.
If it sells, I hope it's to someone who believes in journalism, not short-term political gain!
Agree! But watching the sale of other landmark papers (the Denver Post, up in your corner of the world, for instance) I'm not sure how likely that is. Sigh . . .
The sale of the Denver Post (which I wrote op-ed pieces for as a "Colorado Voice" columnist) was a tragedy. It went to a hedge fund that could care less about newspapers. But out of that sale came a group of committed journalists who founded The Colorado Sun, and amazing online newspaper that has flourished and continues to provide excellent statewide news coverage, opinion and Sunday in-depth stories. The Sun has grown from two or three employees to more than two dozen, and is part of a larger group of local newspapers finding new ways to get the news out and serve their areas. It's also part of The Trust Project, a project committed to journalistic integrity. So journalism and newspapers are surviving, just in new ways.
So good to hear that the Sun continues to flourish, Susan! I've been wondering whether it has helped CO turn blue, or whether its success is a result of the political shift.
Here in Texas, we have a similar indie, the Texas Tribune, also a member of the Trust Project. It has a much better statewide coverage than any of the big-city papers. And it does excellent investigative work. For folks who aren't familiar with the Trust Project, here: a link: https://thetrustproject.org/
I think that the Sun's success is a result of the state's shift to blue, but it's hard to know. (And BTW, that shift blue is really only the Front Range--Colorado Springs/Denver Metro/Fort Collins metro--where most of the state's 5+ million people live. Here in rural Western Colorado, we're still strongly red with some blue dots here and there.)
I have heard of the Texas Tribune, but haven't looked at it. I'm glad to hear they're doing good investigative work--that's a sign that they're flourishing, because that's the journalism that costs the most. (The Sun does good investigative work too.)