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Kara Swisher speaks at TechFestNW in Seattle in 2018. (GeekWire File Photo / Taylor Soper)
“Why do you want to own this paper anymore? And do you love it as much as I do?”
That’s what journalist and entrepreneur Kara Swisher would ask Amazon founder Jeff Bezos about the newspaper he owns, The Washington Post, she explains at the conclusion of a new episode of her podcast, “On with Kara Swisher.”
The episode features Swisher and guests discussing the paper’s storied history, questioning Bezos’ motives as its owner, and contemplating what it would take to “save” the paper from him, as the episode’s title puts it.
The backdrop: Swisher’s previously stated desire to assemble a bid to purchase the publication (where she got her start); recent moves by Bezos aligning himself and his businesses with the interests of the Trump administration; and changes made by Bezos in the approach taken by the newspaper’s editorial/opinion section.
The latest: an opinion policy shift to focus on personal liberties and free markets.
Although it’s commonly accepted for a newspaper’s owner to define the direction of its editorial/option section, some of the guests assembled by Swisher for the episode expressed concern that the influence could eventually go further, despite past assurances by Bezos that he would never interfere with news coverage.
“When this big story happens, whatever it will be, that is really damaging to Trump, and Trump picks up the phone to Bezos, do any of us think that Bezos will say, ‘We’re hanging tough’? … I don’t think so,” said media icon Tina Brown, the former leader of publications including Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and Newsweek.
Swisher said she reached out to Bezos via her investment banker, and through some of his friends, about purchasing the newspaper. She said she received an polite response from his investment arm, before they went silent.
GeekWire contacted Bezos Expeditions for comment on Swisher’s interest in the newspaper, and we’ll update this post if we hear back.
Bezos last year ended the newspaper’s tradition of endorsing candidates for president, spiking the Post’s endorsement of Kamala Harris, leading to a loss of more than 200,000 digital subscribers.
“I know, cry me a river about the death of journalism,” Swisher said in the conclusion to the podcast. “I’ve spent my career trying to innovate it, and at the end of the day, I don’t want to turn the Post into some charity. It has to hold its own as a business. But right now, it’s hemorrhaging money, talent and subscribers.”
Citing the reported loss of another 75,000 subscribers after opinion-page policy shift last week, Swisher said, “Bezos can afford to keep writing checks to stem the tide, but when he wants to stop doing that, I’m interested.”
