During this Next Level Success RoundTable [Blast From the Past] episode, we (Charles T. Harper, Wade Harman, and Deborah Anderson) chatted about Jeff Bezos' acquisition of the Washington Post.
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This podcast was the brainchild of Deborah, my lovely wife,
Michael Anderson:back in 2013, and it was originally recorded via Google Hangouts back when
Michael Anderson:she was affectionately referred to as the industry as the hangout queen.
Michael Anderson:Frequent guests during our first season included Charles T.
Michael Anderson:Harper.
Michael Anderson:Of Gain mind share.
Michael Anderson:He is also the co-host of Marketing Momentum with Charles and Deborah.
Michael Anderson:Next level Success was produced by Seaside Records.
Wade Harman:Why would somebody with, with that much money to
Wade Harman:spend by the Washington Post?
Wade Harman:That's just a question.
Wade Harman:I, I mean, if I, if I was, you know, going to, if I had that much money to spend
Wade Harman:and I was gonna spend it on something, I personally wouldn't buy a newspaper.
Wade Harman:. Charles T. Harper: Yeah.
Wade Harman:I, I mean, you know, everybody's kind of given
Wade Harman:Newspapers, the death sentence, obviously.
Wade Harman:Um, they, they, they've obviously got an online presence, but, you know,
Wade Harman:they still got to me, they've got these, they seem like their, their
Wade Harman:assets gotta be the journalists, right?
Wade Harman:So, I mean, the brand doesn't mean anything, I don't think
Wade Harman:as much as it does anymore.
Wade Harman:And maybe if it does.
Wade Harman:I think all that went out the window, you know when, when he bought it.
Wade Harman:But they've still got these, these really incredibly talented
Wade Harman:long time journalists that can go out and put something together.
Wade Harman:Now, I guess the question to me is whether or not they're gonna
Wade Harman:be able to put something together.
Wade Harman:And people really wanna read, you know, in other venues, other than the
Wade Harman:ones they've been, they've been doing
Wade Harman:well.
Wade Harman:I see a quote here, uh, from the LA Times on this story, and, and it says, uh,
Wade Harman:for too long we've had the technologists sitting in one room and the journalists
Wade Harman:were sitting in the other room, and each one sees the other as the bad guy.
Wade Harman:And they're, they're saying that we need to get both of these groups in
Wade Harman:the same room and working together.
Wade Harman:So with what you're saying about, um.
Wade Harman:You know, people will call him the newspaper, a dying arc.
Wade Harman:Maybe.
Wade Harman:Maybe he's trying to fix it to where technology and journalism
Wade Harman:can, can work hand in hand,
Wade Harman:. Deborah E: But, you know, 250 million, how much is this gentleman worth?
Wade Harman:Because maybe 250 million is just a spit in the bucket and it's,
Wade Harman:it's a hobby and it's a dream that maybe he had all his life.
Wade Harman:I, I, I think that if he was gonna spend that much money,
Wade Harman:he probably has more to spare.
Wade Harman:Jeff Bezos net worth is $25.2 billion.
Wade Harman:He's number 19.
Wade Harman:Oh, then 250 million that just Yeah, it's just jumped me.
Wade Harman:, Charles T. Harper: obviously the, the, the Washington Post.
Wade Harman:. Is international, and part of what I'm hoping that he's seeing is the
Wade Harman:opportunity that I sort of intuitively think is there, even in a small town
Wade Harman:like Harrisburg, that there's something going on on the local level that
Wade Harman:There's gotta be revenue there that is too small for a paper
Wade Harman:like the Washington Post.
Wade Harman:Too small for these, these, these, uh, operations where they've got
Wade Harman:all these people, they gotta pay buildings they gotta pay for, right?
Wade Harman:But, but enough.
Wade Harman:For somebody who's got a studio in their basement who can cover a niche, maybe
Wade Harman:that revenue and that opportunity is still there for somebody who's willing to kind
Wade Harman:of take the whole blogging model or, you know, in your case, Debra, the, the, the
Wade Harman:show model and then kind of target it.
Wade Harman:They're in, you know, their local area.
Wade Harman:I mean, I know there's,
Deborah E:do you think that being who he is, do you think that will
Deborah E:draw more advertisers and drama?
Deborah E:Because they'll look at it and say, wow, look what he did with this.
Deborah E:Oh, yeah.
Deborah E:Book store.
Deborah E:They're just gonna like, Hey, I wanna be a part of this.
Deborah E:Whatever it is, we don't know, but we wanna be a part
Deborah E:of it because of who he is.
Wade Harman:Oh, most definitely.
Wade Harman:I, I think so.
Wade Harman:What do you think Charles?
Wade Harman:Charles T. Harper: Well, I think, I think it's almost got to that the name's gonna,
Wade Harman:the name's gonna draw, but then he's also got, I mean, he's got this huge.
Wade Harman:Distribution network through Amazon, right?
Wade Harman:Yeah.
Wade Harman:So even if he decided to, to, to, to take, even if he decided
Wade Harman:to deliver the newspaper, right?
Wade Harman:Even if he decided to keep the print copy and deliver that print
Wade Harman:newspaper, goodness gracious, um, he could probably deliver that paper.
Wade Harman:To people who want it in these other cities, right?
Wade Harman:Um, through that whole distribution network that they have going on
Wade Harman:somehow or another, um, through Amazon.
Wade Harman:But then also, um, I gotta believe they gotta be able to raise the
Wade Harman:level of that product to whatever it is that they were putting out.
Wade Harman:It might've been cool for the people in Washington, but I got.
Wade Harman:I believe they gotta do something to the actual product because I, I don't,
Wade Harman:I don't read the Washington Post.
Wade Harman:And I guess if you're not really into politics, maybe, or you're not from
Wade Harman:Washington, you're not reading it.
Wade Harman:I, I, I don't know.
Wade Harman:Do do you guys read the Washington Post
Wade Harman:I don't.
Deborah E:I read the LA Times . If anything it's la Do you think they're
Deborah E:going for almost a global, I mean, if you, I'm, I'm trying to think global here.
Deborah E:If you're looking at the country.
Deborah E:Even though New York, Los Angeles, you know, different cities like that
Deborah E:may be major cities, aren't you gonna kind of look at that Washington area
Deborah E:to be representative of the country of the United States as far as news?
Deborah E:So is it possible, it's looking at a, a global type thing where maybe people
Deborah E:would want it electronically delivered?
Deborah E:Other countries.
Wade Harman:That's a good point.
Wade Harman:Um, that, and is this guy, is he planning on running for some
Wade Harman:type of office with doing this?
Deborah E:Mm,
Wade Harman:there's all kinds of different scenarios you can run,
Wade Harman:uh, with, because like you said, the Washington Post is, you know, United
Wade Harman:States, uh, what do you call it, the.
Wade Harman:Referral, whatever you wanna call
Michael Anderson:That brings us to the end of this episode of
Michael Anderson:Next Level Success Round Table.
Michael Anderson:We appreciate and value your insights and hope to apply them in our own lives,
Michael Anderson:both personally and professionally.
Michael Anderson:As always, thanks for listening to Next Level Success Roundtable, where your
Michael Anderson:thoughts and contributions are shared around the table and around the world.