The news business has always been unpredictable, and an old saying speaks volumes about it: “If you want to make a small fortune, start with a large one.”
The past decade has been particularly challenging for news publishers, with dwindling prospects leading to the likes of billionaires stepping in to buy some of the country’s most prominent brands.
One such example is the founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, who purchased The Washington Post in 2013, spending approximately $250 million. Another is billionaire biotechnology and start-up investor Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, who purchased The Los Angeles Times in 2018 for around $500 million. Also in 2018, software giant Salesforce’s founder, Marc Benioff, along with his spouse Lynne, paid $190 million to acquire Time magazine.
Like its counterparts, The Washington Post struggled to hold onto the momentum it had gained in the wake of the 2020 Presidential Election, with flagging subscriptions and advertising revenue.
These setbacks caused the company to suffer losses of up to $100 million last year. In a bid to curtail these losses, the company announced that by the end of 2020, it eliminated over 240 jobs, which accounted for a tenth of its workforce, via buyouts. This move included some of the publication’s highly respected journalists, which raised questions about the direction of the newspaper.he importance of journalism in our lives.
