Bezos destroyed Washington Post, should ‘fold cards’ and sell the newspaper

The first time I spoke Jeff BezosHe founded Amazon as an online bookstore and made himself available to all kinds of journalists — “a political genius,” as the New York Times Magazine put it, “a brilliant, charming, hyperbolic, and misleadingly goofy mind.” In 1999, after overcoming naysayers who scoffed at the bizarre idea of ​​online retail, the 35-year-old entrepreneur was named Time magazine’s Person of the Year.

Nearly a decade and a half later, as one of the richest men in the world, Bezos spent $250 million of his personal fortune to buy The Washington Post from Katharine Graham’s family.

Now he has to fold his papers and sell them.

It’s a different era for the industry, and Bezos is so different, he’s relieved to cut a third of the newspaper’s staff.

The former Washington fact-checker reaches out to “absentee owner” Bezos and demands he commit to providing or selling the paper

After initially declaring that “the newspaper’s duty lies with the readers, not the owners,” Bezos, whose company Blue Origin holds federal contracts, is trying to mend his once-strained relationship with President Donald Trump. Amazon Donated one million dollars To Trump’s inauguration.

Although the administration has made more than its share of mistakes, I do not think it is an exaggeration to say that Bezos has destroyed what was once one of America’s greatest newspapers.

I bring my personal history to the table. I spent 29 years in mailworked with Bob Woodward’s SWAT investigative team, as a Justice Department correspondent, a New York bureau chief, and eventually as a media reporter and columnist.

In the 1980s and 1990s, when newspapers really mattered, The Washington Post, though lacking the resources of The New York Times, delivered scoops with an all-star team, from politics (David Broder and Dan Bales) to sports (Tony Kornheiser, Michael Wilpon and Tom Boswell) to the Metro desk (Woodward and Bernstein). There was a freestyle section for Sally Quinn and many other narrative writers.

Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon and owner of The Washington Post, looks to the crowd during The New York Times’ annual DealBook Summit at Jazz at Lincoln Center on December 4, 2024, in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

This was the Watergate newspaper, which helped drive Richard Nixon from office, after challenging his administration in running the Pentagon Papers and documenting the lies about the Vietnam War. It was the newspaper of the legendary Ben Bradley, whose retirement I covered after secretly reviewing him. Despite the occasional blunder (such as Janet Cooke’s fraud), it was highlighted in two films (Robert Redford Dustin Hoffman in “All the President’s Men” and Meryl Streep Tom Hanks at The Post), inspiring legions of young graduates to enter the field of journalism.

When Bezos 300 journalists expelled One day, he completed the wave of destruction that left The Washington Post a shell of its former self. Among those expelled are remaining stars like Lizzie Johnson, who said she was “devastated” reporting from a war zone in Ukraine without heat or running water. And Marty Weil, the sarcastic man on the night shift who has been with the paper for 60 years. And Sarah Ellison, a stylish writer who came from Vanity Fair. This wrecking ball came after several previous rounds of layoffs.

Bezos doesn’t care. I just think he’s bored with the property he once thought would bring him instant credibility. He is more interested in his rocket company. The Post is a blip on his global radar.

Prominent Pittsburgh newspaper that previously supported Trump’s shutdown this year

I’m not in the camp that says Bezos should support the newspaper forever just because he’s super rich. With the newspaper losing $100 million last year, he is entitled to find a path to profitability. But Bezos is under intense attack from the media.

“We are witnessing a murder,” wrote Ashley Parker, now at the Atlantic.

Liberal commentator Charlie Sykes provided this headline: “Courageless Billionaire Spreads Courage.”

Former executive editor Marty Baron, who previously ran the award-winning Boston Globe, declared: “Disgusting Bezos’ efforts To curry favor with President Trump has left an ugly stain of their own. “This is a case study in almost instantaneous brand destruction.”

The Washington Post building in DC. The Post has cut more than 300 jobs, laying off nearly 30% of its workforce. (Andrew Harnick/Getty Images)

“He bought The Post thinking it would give him some gravitas and grace that he couldn’t get with just billions of dollars, and then the world changed. Now I don’t think he cares,” said Onetime Metro editor David Maraniss, a mentor to many at the paper.

In fairness, many newspapers have suffered the collapse of their business model, as classifieds and advertising have moved online and people can get breaking news from their phones or watches. Some of them have been converted into websites; The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette closes in May.

More than a quarter of American newspapers have folded in the past two decades. In 1981, the Washington Star, where I worked, closed as the afternoon papers became obsolete.

But The Washington Post is a classic case study of failure to adapt to the digital age. Katharine Graham was skeptical when she called me on to explain this emerging universe.

Former Washington Post chief criticizes ‘courageous’ Bezos as newspaper rocked by major layoffs

In the Bezos era, waves of discounts meant readers were being asked to keep paying for a product that had increasingly diminished over time, as its stars defected to other major outlets.

At first, Bezos took a hands-off approach, which seemed in sync with the newsroom culture. During Trump’s first term, he coined the slogan “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” But there was a radical shift in 2024.

When the editorial board drafted Endorsement of Kamala HarrisBezos killed it, which the owner had every right to do. If he had decided not to believe it earlier, few would have cared. But Bezos wielded the ax a week before the election, and the uproar was deafening. As the Washington Post itself reported, more than 250,000 people have canceled their subscriptions.

Four months later, Bezos decreed that each day’s editorial pages would focus on promoting “personal freedoms” and “free markets,” and ban any attempt to present opposing viewpoints. Opinion editor David Shipley, whose section won two Pulitzer Prizes, resigned, and other editors and columnists cut ties with the newspaper.

President Donald Trump arrives at a dedication ceremony for a portion of Southern Boulevard that the Palm Beach City Council recently voted to rename President Donald J. Trump Boulevard at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, on January 16, 2026. (Julia Demaree Nickinson/AP Photo)

Meanwhile, the Pole met with Trump at Mar-a-LagoHe sat behind the president at his second inauguration.

Bezos himself, as everyone knows, is now a travel mogul. He found himself in the middle of a tabloid scandal when the National Enquirer published lewd texts between Bezos and his girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez, as news of his divorce emerged. The Enquirer also published photos of his genitals, criticizing them as a blackmail attempt. Bezos proposed to Sanchez on his 417-foot yacht, and they married last spring in Venice, in a ceremony attended by the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Leonardo DiCaprio, Gayle King, Tom Brady and Kim Kardashian. The cost of the multi-day celebrations ranged from $20 million to $50 million.

For Bezos, this was essentially a fallback change. Peter Baker, post graduate and now Chief White House Correspondent In The Times and MS NOW Analyst, reports indicate that Bezos’ net worth has risen by $224 billion since purchasing the Washington newspaper.

So why does Bezos need a headache? He should offload this faltering asset to someone with a new chance to revive The Washington Post from its near-death experience — although, frankly, it may be too late.

A day after the Washington Post’s sports section was eliminated, CEO Will Lewis — who canceled a call to employees to explain the layoffs — was walking the red carpet at San Francisco NFL Honorsan event leading to the Super Bowl. Those who lost their jobs and colleagues were angry.

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Worse still, the newspaper was not allowed to write about sweeping layoffs. seriously. His brief farewell note thanked none other than Bezos.

In the past, there might have been six stories in The Washington Post about the journalistic earthquake that occurred in its midst. But that was a long time ago.