Boy, this "autonomous billionaires as the saviors of American journalism" idea sure is working out swell!
https://t.co/hK0Y0IZob8
— Billmon (@billmon1) September 2, 2014
The Washington Post: From "Pravda on the Potomac" to "Chamber of Commerce chew toy" in less than 20 years. Quite a ride.
— Billmon (@billmon1) September 2, 2014
Jim Newell at Salon reports “Ronald Reagan’s No. 1 superfan now runs the Washington Post“:
The Washington Post has been a much more ambitious beast since Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos bought the paper last year. Since it’s been in private control, and no longer subject to public shareholder pressure, the paper has invested in hiring dozens and dozens of new staffers with all sorts of cutting-edge “online experience,” writers who understand that the journalism of the future will involve getting lots of people to click on lots of stuff. No word yet on when/how this all becomes profitable. But that’s for the suits to worry about….
… Fred Ryan, who’s just been named the Post’s new publisher, is among the more Reagan-y people to ever walk the earth — somewhat less Reagan-y than Ronald Reagan himself, but probably more Reagan-y than Nancy Reagan or other members of the Reagan family.
“Ryan’s background in Republican politics,” the Post’s own write-up of the leadership switch notes, “also is certain to raise questions about the direction of The Post’s editorial page, among the most influential in the nation.” Make what you will of that “most influential in the nation” business. But as for the part about how it’s certain to “raise questions about the direction of The Post’s editorial age” — well, yeah! This Fred Ryan cranks the Reaganmeter dangerously into the red…
More at the link. I’m sure you all have strong opinions about this.