In just four days, a major metropolitan newspaper (The Boston Globe) and, now, a national newspaper (The Washington Post) have been sold to wealthy new owners with good-guy reputations who’ll be able to operate debt-free while they try to figure out how to turn around the fortunes of their beleaguered acquisitions.
John Henry’s buying the Globe is one thing. Jeff Bezos’ purchase of the Post is quite another. Post-Steve Jobs, is there a more visionary tech entrepreneur than the founder of Amazon? This is great and hopeful news for anyone concerned about the future not just of the newspaper business but of journalism.
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A recent edition of the Guardian had a piece regarding problems between Amazon’s German operations and labor unions representing some of its employees. Bezos is much praised for being some sort of digital visionary, but I hear and read very little about the way he treats his employees, many of whom are relatively low-wage warehouse workers.
Michael Fahey
Somerville, Mass.