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Is The Washington Submit in full-scale collapse? A current take a look at the numbers gives a reasonably convincing reply to that query.
In response to the report, not solely is the Submit shedding $100 million a yr, however it misplaced over half of its on-line engagement by the tip of 2023. The indicators have been already there by mid-year, and the worst has come to cross.
That is from Bonchie, “The Washington Submit Is in Full-Scale Collapse,” RedState, January 5, 2024.
Bonchie goes on to jot down:
Having a billionaire sugar daddy [Jeff Bezos] has helped masks among the points plaguing the Submit, however the tide can solely be held again so lengthy. To lose over 50 p.c 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 in all my favourite films, Citizen Kane. I truly discovered a supply many years in the past, method earlier than the online, that had the dialogue printed out and it was on my cork board at work for many years. It’s a gorgeous train in numeracy.
Right here’s the dialogue:
Walter Parks Thatcher (Charles Kane’s authorized guardian): Don’t you suppose it’s somewhat 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 count on to lose 1,000,000 {dollars} this yr. I count on to lose 1,000,000 {dollars} subsequent yr. , 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 web value in 2022 was $167 billion. So if he makes solely a 1% return on his belongings, that’s $1.67 billion a yr. At that charge, he’ll have to shut the Washington Submit in– by no means.
There’s one different massive distinction moreover the truth that for Bezos it’s rounding error and for Citizen Kane it wasn’t. I feel I can work out from the film what Citizen Kane’s motivation was for operating the Inquirer the best way he did. I’ve by no means had a clue about what Jeff Bezos’s motivation is in proudly owning the Washington Submit.
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