Reaction in much of the book world to the news that Jeff Bezos is buying the Washington Post ranged from shock to gloom--with a few people trying to find silver linings. ("It's Bezos personally, not Amazon." "He has the money to keep the Post going." "At least it wasn't Murdoch.") Several people thought the news was a late--or early--April Fool's joke or an Onion story.
 |
|
| Jeff Bezos with Donald Graham [photo: European Pressphoto Agency] | |
Of course, the major concern is that the purchase gives Bezos and Amazon much more influence in Washington than he already has, considering that the Justice Department has made life much easier for Amazon with the e-book agency model price collusion case and that President Obama last week began touting Amazon as a leader in creating good jobs and expanding the economy. (Apparently this new capital connection has a history: according to the Post, Bezos has "maintained a long friendship with [Post Co. chairman and CEO Donald] Graham, and they have informally advised each other over the years. Graham, for example, advised Bezos about how to feature newspapers on the Kindle, Amazon's popular e-reader." )
A few people concerned about journalistic standards and the company's use of the concept of the customer experience to justify almost every unsavory and predatory move worried about Bezos's comment that "our touchstone will be readers, understanding what they care about--government, local leaders, restaurant openings, scout troops, businesses, charities, governors, sports--and working backwards from there."
One wag said she wondered how Bezos could afford the Post purchase after his earlier purchase of the Justice Department. (Actually, the $250 million purchase price represents just 1% of Bezos's estimated net worth.) Another said she felt like she's on the Starship Enterprise with the Borg now at the controls. Yet another said, "There goes the investigative story about the relationship between Amazon and the Justice Department." Others wondered when any item mentioned in the Post will have links to Amazon. Likewise there were jokes about Woodward & Bezos, the new Post-Amazon Prime subscription model, and whether the hilarious Ron Charles might be reassigned to do videos shilling Amazon.
For our part, all we can say is that for the people who have called us paranoid about Amazon's plans for world domination, we rest our case--nervously.