What exactly does it mean that Amazon’s Jeff Bezos has purchased the Washington Post?
Business Insider‘s Henry Blodget takes a stab at an explanation:
Given Amazon’s expertise in affiliate marketing and advertising, it’s not hard to imagine that the Washington Post could quickly become a laboratory for the next generation of integrated content and commerce.
Of course, Bezos is an investor in Business Insider, so for a possibly less biased take (complete with a bizarrely unflattering stock photo of Bezos), here’s Forbes contributor Greg Satell:
For decades there has been precisely two business models for media: Advertising and subscription. Today, we’re seeing a third one emerge, content as a promotional tool…e-commerce is starting to play the role once solely reserved for advertising, monetizing content through promoting the sale of products and services.”
One response
First thing: your headline is wrong. Amazon didn’t buy anything. This was a private purchase by Bezos. So there doesn’t necessarily have to be a strong profit motive behind the purchase. For all we know, Bezos will follow the trend of John Thorton and the Texas Tribune, treating the service of reporting and the content generated by the Post as public goods to be maintained rather than exploited for profit. Yes, that’s a very optimistic view of what could happen, but I think it’s just as likely as Bezos turning the Post into a factory for churning out brand journalism.
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