It’s Almanac time again and the COURIER staff now can give a
collective “whew” after months of planning, researching, writing, shooting (in
my case climbing), design and all the production work that went into the
2013-14 edition.
There’s another aspect that makes the publisher quite happy
on a number of levels. When you combine today’s regular Friday paper and the
Almanac, we are delivering 120 pages of Claremont focused news and advertising
to our readers. And you will see a much larger presence of realtors than
previous years.
Our staff takes a lot of pride in delivering a quality
product, which is key to publishing a successful community newspaper and
website. Obviously the naysayers who predict gloom and doom on the newspaper
industry’s future, have never visited Claremont.
Which is the perfect transition to my next topic about newspaper
owners. Yes, there continues to be concerning news as established brands like
the Oregonian and Cleveland Plain Dealer go through some dramatic cost cutting.
But as the industry continues to evolve, the transition brings good news too.
In the past 2 weeks, both The Boston Globe and The
Washington Post have been purchased by billionaires motivated that these
newspapers continue to report stories of national interest, have a watchdog
type focus and retain the ethics and values that help the common good. It takes
resources to do this, resources you won’t find from online only news websites,
blogs, and even many newspapers and television stations that have reduced
coverage in recent years.
There was a time not too long ago when newspaper companies where
selling for obscene amounts of money (10 to 30 times their annual revenue). They
say timing is everything and these new buyers purchased the Post and Globe for
a song. Well, a song by billionaire standards. Even though there were plenty of
suitors, The Boston Globe was sold for $70 million, and little less than the
$1.1 billion the New York Times paid for it in 1993. That’s over $1.75 billion
in today’s dollars.
At that price, I’m sure the new owner John Henry, the
principal owner of the Boston Red Sox, was able to simply write a personal
check. Mr. Henry says the Globe's
"award-winning journalism" and "its rich history and tradition
of excellence" will continue as he takes his first foray into the world of
news media.
It’s obvious Mr. Henry clearly
understands the role and values of accurate, in-depth reporting, and will focus
on the interests of readers, not his own personal agenda. By adopting a
long-term strategy in good times and bad, the Globe will be a successful
business too.
The same is true for The Washington
Post and their new owner Jeff Bezos. Mr. Bezos owns this other side business
called Amazon, and was able to purchase the Post for $250 million cash. That
amount was not even one percent of his net worth. Talk about deep pockets…whew!
The Post has been a family-owned
newspaper company for decades, and it’s natural to worry about change. But Mr.
Bezos understands what kind of business the Post is, and made that clear in a
letter to employees.
“The values of the Post do not need changing. The paper’s
duty will remain to its readers and not to the private interests of its owners.
We will continue to follow the truth wherever it leads, and we’ll work hard not
to make mistakes. When we do, we will own up to them quickly and completely.
I won’t be leading The Washington Post day-to-day. I am
happily living in ‘the other Washington’ where I have a day job that I love.
Besides that, the Post already has an excellent leadership team that knows much
more about the news business than I do, and I’m extremely grateful to them for
agreeing to stay on.”
Mr. Bezos went on to talk about great journalism, which is an
area some publishers ignore, or know little about (proven success in
advertising is a must for any new publisher.)
In fact, I was so impressed with how Mr. Bezos handled the
purchase, I will accept his check for $10 million as long as I can remain
COURIER publisher.
Now that’s a deal.
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