Amazon.com Founder Buys WaPo in $250m Cash Deal

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After an 80-year grip on the company, the Graham family has agreed to sell The Washington Post and affiliated publications to the 49-year-old founder of Amazon.com, Jeffrey P. Bezos, in a $250 million cash deal, the Post reported today.

Days after Boston Red Sox owner John Henry agreed to buy The Boston Globe  from The New York Times Co. for $70 million cash, Bezos will bring his expertise in digital companies and $25.2 billion net worth to the owner's chair of the newspaper that helped bring down the presidency of Richard M. Nixon with its Watergate scandal coverage.  Seattle-based Amazon.com will have no role in WaPo, with Bezos dipping into his pocket money to become sole owner.

The Post article reported that Bezos, who started Amazon.com 19 years ago with a $300,000 stake from his parents, plans to take the enterprise private.  Executive Editor Marty Baron will stay on, as will Publisher Katherine Weymouth, niece of Post Co. Chair Donald Graham.

The deal is expected to be finalized within 60 days.  In a letter published in the Post, Bezos said he plans to remain in Seattle and pledged "[t]he paper's duty will remain to its readers and not the private interests of its owners."  There was no suggestion of any layoffs of the WaPo staff, which is roughly 2,000 strong.

As reported by this blog (see "TUOL" 5/6/13 post), the Post has struggled mightily in recent years, with its revenues declining from $957 million in 2005 to $581 million last year. The metropolitan daily lost $53 million last year and saw its circulation in 2012 dip to 471,000, compared to 705,000 in 2005.

IBT Media Acquires Newsweek; Publication to Remain Digital-Only

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Newsweek, an 80-year-old publication that once boasted readership of three million, has become the Christmas fruitcake of publications--a hard-to-swallow confection no one wants that gets recycled from one unlucky recipient to another.

IBT Media, an eight-year-old digital-only company that publishes the International Business Times, has acquired Newsweek from IAC/Interactive for an undisclosed sum, according to press accounts. For readers keeping score, The Washington Post. Co. sold Newsweek to the late audio magnate Sidney Harman for $1 in 2010. Harman, in turn, partnered with IAC's Barry Diller to combine Newsweek with The Daily Beast in 2012, and a digital-only version of the news magazine has very quietly been produced since January 2013 (see "TUOL" post 5/29/13).

The International Business Times globally publishes 10 editions in several languages and claims to reach 7 million readers in the U.S. and 13 million people worldwide monthly. The Daily Beast will continue to produce Newsweek during a 60-day transition period.

In what English majors will recognize both as foreshadowing and irony, IBT, a company on the upswing, during a 2011 expansion moved into New York City offices previously occupied by Newsweek.

Anyone Wanna Buy a Debt-Laden, Subscriber-Deprived, Digital-Only News Journal?

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Maybe three times will be the charm for beleaguered IAC-owned Newsweek.

Once boasting a circulation of three million, Newsweek has changed hands twice in the past three years. Acquired in 2010 from The Washington Post Co. for $1 plus assumption of its considerable debt by the late audio magnate Sidney Harman, Newsweek merged with the Daily Beast in 2012 and its present majority owner, Barry Diller's IAC, is looking to unload the forlorn digital-only publication, Variety reports.

Online traffic reportedly has reportedly shrunk by one million unique visitors over the past four months and its subscription base has plunged from 1.5 million to 470,000, according to the Variety article. The magazine renamed its digital version Newsweek Global, even though, unlike in the U.S., print editions of the newsweekly are still available around the world pursuant to royalty arrangements.

Newsweek debuted a revamped Web site this month, and Variety reported the publication has plans to unveil a paywall that will charge Web site visitors $2.99 a month to subscribe. Diller has been quoted in the press recently as saying he regrets purchasing the 80-year-old publication.

Newsrooms Continued to Shrink in 2011

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)The largest U.S. newspaper publishers last year combined trimmed their work force more than 7 percent, according to a review of Securities & Exchange Commission filings by Media Daily News (www.mediapost.com).

A.H. Belo, owner of the Dallas Morning News and Providence Journal, among other papers, slashed its job force by 13.6 percent compared to 2010 figures, while its revenues declined 5.3 percent. Media General shrank its newsroom personnel by 9.7 percent, almost matching a 9.1 drop in revenues.

Likewise, the Washington Post Co. newspaper division cut its work force 4.5 percent and suffered a 5 percent decrease in revenues. The McClatchy Co., which owns 30 dailies, reduced its work force by 11.5 percent and experienced a 7.4 percent drop in advertising revenues.

The Gannett Co. axed 6.7 percent of the workers in its publishing division as publishing revenues declined 5.7 percent. E.W. Scripps grew its television holdings, but cut 6.7 percent of its newspaper employees.

The New York Times Co. was the winner among the losers, as it were, lopping off only 2 percent of its newsroom staff, in line with a modest 2.9 percent decrease in revenues. Rounding out the depressing Media Daily News article, Lee Enterprises endured a 6.5 percent drop in staff size, while operating revenues were down 3.1 percent.

Slate Lays Off Senior Staffers in Face of Financial Woes

Image via WikipediaWashington Post Co.-owned Webzine Slate.com has hit a financial rough patch that has caused it to cut loose contractors and four full-time staffers, including long-time media writer Jack Shafer and "Chatterbox" columnist Timothy Noah, AdWeek reports.

With Slate's 2011 2Q earnings down 13 percent compared to last year, the Webzine dropped media reporting maven Shafer, an original member of Editor Michael Kinsley's team that debuted Slate in 1996. The 59-year-old Kalamazoo, Michigan, native is the principal reason the devoted "TUOL" staff has visited Slate.com over the years.

Shafer and Noah will continue to contribute to the site. The "small reduction in full-time staff," according to Slate Editor David Plotz, also includes foreign editor June Thomas and associate editor Juliet Lapidos.