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Is The Washington Publish in full-scale collapse? A current have a look at the numbers gives a reasonably convincing reply to that query.
In response to the report, not solely is the Publish dropping $100 million a yr, nevertheless it misplaced over half of its on-line engagement by the top of 2023. The indicators have been already there by mid-year, and the worst has come to cross.
That is from Bonchie, “The Washington Publish Is in Full-Scale Collapse,” RedState, January 5, 2024.
Bonchie goes on to put in writing:
Having a billionaire sugar daddy [Jeff Bezos] has helped masks among the points plaguing the Publish, however the tide can solely be held again so lengthy. To lose over 50 % of its on-line viewership is catastrophic for an outlet with such excessive overhead prices. Subscriber numbers have additionally nosedived all through the Biden administration.
I’m reminded of my favourite scene from one among my favourite films, Citizen Kane. I truly discovered a supply a long time in the past, method earlier than the net, that had the dialogue printed out and it was on my cork board at work for many years. It’s an exquisite train in numeracy.
Right here’s the dialogue:
Walter Parks Thatcher (Charles Kane’s authorized guardian): Don’t you assume it’s relatively unwise to proceed this philanthropic enterprise, this Inquirer that’s costing you 1,000,000 {dollars} a yr?
Charles Foster Kane: You’re proper, Mr. Thatcher. I did lose 1,000,000 {dollars} final yr. I anticipate to lose 1,000,000 {dollars} this yr. I anticipate to lose 1,000,000 {dollars} subsequent yr. You realize, Mr. Thatcher, on the charge of 1,000,000 {dollars} a yr, I’ll have to shut this place in [pause] 60 years.
Let’s say that Bezos’s losses rise to $200 million a yr and keep there. His internet price in 2022 was $167 billion. So if he makes solely a 1% return on his property, that’s $1.67 billion a yr. At that charge, he’ll have to shut the Washington Publish in– by no means.
There’s one different large distinction moreover the truth that for Bezos it’s rounding error and for Citizen Kane it wasn’t. I believe I can determine from the film what Citizen Kane’s motivation was for operating the Inquirer the way in which he did. I’ve by no means had a clue about what Jeff Bezos’s motivation is in proudly owning the Washington Publish.
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