Posted on 01/05/2024 9:14:39 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Is The Washington Post in full-scale collapse? A recent look at the numbers provides a fairly convincing answer to that question.
According to the report, not only is the Post losing $100 million a year, but it lost over half of its online engagement by the end of 2023. The signs were already there by mid-year, and the worst has come to pass.
See: The Washington Post Is Facing a Financial Buzzsaw
“Of that audience, less than one in five read more than a single article per month, while less than one in 500 actually convert to a paying subscription.”— Josh Kraushaar (@JoshKraushaar) January 6, 2024
“The data—yes, it really is that bad—suggests that the Post is not only suffering from the absence of a coherent business plan, but it is also suffering from a profound product problem”— Josh Kraushaar (@JoshKraushaar) January 6, 2024
Having a multi-billionaire sugar daddy has helped mask some of the issues plaguing the Post, but the tide can only be held back so long. To lose over 50 percent of its online viewership is catastrophic for an outlet with such high overhead costs. Subscriber numbers have also nosedived throughout the Biden administration.
That last fact is interesting because the trend was originally blamed on Donald Trump no longer being in the news. The former president has been firmly back in the headlines the last year, though, and the Post has continued its downward spiral. If Trump being charged with multiple felonies isn't enough to save the once-storied paper, it's hard to imagine what could.
As to the reasons behind this precipitous fall, I think they are fairly obvious. Nothing the Post produces is worthwhile. Their columnists are boring parrots who all say the same thing, levying the same boring attacks they were levying nearly a decade ago. Even a died-in-the-wool liberal can only take so many Jennifer Rubin columns claiming the end is nigh for the nation because Republicans get to vote.
Then there's Taylor Lorenz, who has done more to harm the Post's credibility in the few years she's worked there than any other "journalist" at the outlet. She's been caught committing multiple ethical violations dealing with her "stories," and the response from her employers has been non-existent. Of all the people who should have been given the boot long ago, Lorenz was one of them.
Where does Jeff Bezos, who owns the Post, go from here? The path the news outlet is on is not sustainable. Continuing to dump money into a sinking ship is a bad investment, and because the Post's leaders are more beholden to their left-wing radicalism than market forces, there's no reason to think the ship can ever be saved.
That's the problem with letting the inmates run the asylum. Like with Deadspin, far-left activists are more than happy to run a publication into the ground pursuing their political wants. The culture at the Post is so toxic and entitled at this point that it would take a top-down cleaning out of every level of the outlet's operation to make a dent. Is that going to happen? Of course, not, because the backlash from the radicals would be overwhelming. Bezos is stuck, and it wouldn't surprise me if he tries to cut his losses eventually.
News papers are dead.
people get news from the internet site of their choice, not the Democrats dominated hard print.
I like to read from a piece of paper and I have a LASER printer so union guys can go learn a new trade.
Don’t get me wrong I visit all different sites for opposing points of views, but I control that.
Not some fuc*ing Democrat nutcase fanatic doing it for me.
The time it takes you go through the section A of a paper
I can read Russian. Chinese, Israeli, Indian, and European news all with their bias.
News papers are dead.
people get news from the internet site of their choice, not the Democrats dominated hard print.
I like to read from a piece of paper and I have a LASER printer so union guys can go learn a new trade.
Don’t get me wrong I visit all different sites for opposing points of views, but I control that.
Not some fuc*ing Democrat nutcase fanatic doing it for me.
The time it takes you go through the section A of a paper
I can read Russian. Chinese, Israeli, Indian, and European news all with their bias.
Worth reading, but “died-in-the-wool” ? Bonchie needs a proof reader.
Worth reading, but “died-in-the-wool” ? Bonchie needs a proof reader.
Won’t be satisfied until all its facilities have been razed, the owners tried, found guilty, and hung, and the employees fired with prejudice..
So $100 million loss a year is nothing to him. He didn't buy the WP to make a profit, but to have influence.
The loss of readership is a bigger annoyance for him, but only if it means a loss of influence. It really depends on what sort of reader he's losing (ordinary folk?) vs. what sort continue to read the WP (important folk?).
oh elon!
The loss of readership is a bigger annoyance for him, because it means a loss of influence.
I changed that a bit because that is Bezo’s biggest problem. His hard core readership are already true believers (fanatics) so the paper is preaching to the choir hence changing nobody’s mind. So as a propaganda tool that is trying to convert folks to the leftist mind-set, it is a failure. And while the losses are small fraction of Bezo’s fortune I suspect that the FedGov has a way to offset those losses somewhat. I would not be surprised if a substantial number of hard-copy subscriptions are to FedGov offices and their personnel.
Yeah—I was running the numbers on this.
Suppose someone is worth one million dollars.
This ventures loses 100 million divided by 167.6 billion = .0006 of the wealth per year.
.0006 x one million = $ 600 a year.
That is $ 50 a month for the millionaire—pocket change really.
Thus, Tucker Carson, Joe Rogan, Alex Jones, and hundreds of smaller podcasters have audiences that Fox, CNN, and the old three TV networks envy. Elon Musk has broken the iron curtain imposed after 2017 by Big Tech. Additionally, numerous smaller sites like Rumble have bypassed the old guard tech platforms.
The powers that be have lost their formerly dominant mind control, so their rhetoric to their followers is ramping up to Goebbels like levels. Their attacks on Trump are only serving to strengthen him. If he dies or is imprisoned, the conservative base will reject Nikki Haley or Ron DeSantis, who are within the Overton Window and are well funded by the Bush wing of the GOP.
The feel-good story of the day.
It’s a strategic tax write off.
Oh, what a shame!
Where will we go to get our dose of stories too dumb to believe?
Rumor has it that The Babylon Bee is putting together a buyout offer.
I think I read that in the Babylon Bee.
The rich billionaire Leftists, of which there are many, will spend whatever is necessary to keep the Washington Post propaganda organ in business.
Watch VR smack down an WaPo “reporter”:
Good stuff!
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