Has Jeff Bezos brought down the Washington Post?
Americast
Intro
Justin and Anthony introduce the episode and frame the question about the Washington Post's future after Bezos' cuts.
The paper that contributed to the resignation of President Nixon over Watergate and the Vietnam war is now having to rethink its future. The Washington Post’s owner - Amazon boss Jeff Bezos - has announced mass layoffs at the newspaper, which will fundamentally change how it covers the news.
When Bezos bought the paper in 2013, he reassured staff about a “new golden era for the Washington Post”, and later adopted a new slogan for the Washington Post “Democracy Dies in Darkness”.
Justin and Anthony discuss why the cuts have happened and what the wider impact may be on US media. With Bezos defending the cuts as “the data tells us what is valuable and where to focus", we look at whether the role of money, influence, and closeness to President Trump could also be at play?
HOSTS: • Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter • Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent
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This episode was made by Rufus Gray, Grace Reeve and Kris Jalowiecki. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.
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