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09:24Last update on: 13 Aug 2013
The Namibian
Tue 13 Aug 2013
SMS Of The Day * THIS nation is in dire need of a massive conference on housing. When we experienced a crisis in the education sector a crisis-control brain-storming conference was organised which resulted in the best deal ever for the Namibian child, nam Food For Thought * BOURGEOISIE has become a daily occupation if not the order of the day of the upper-echelons, President Hifikepunye Pohamba we urge you to revisit this unpatriotic geocentricism among your staff and the well-connected, for everybody to r Bouquets And Brickbats * COMMISSIONER of Prisons, can you please explain the strategies you use to appoint officers to certain positions? It is my observation that you are being fed with wrong information then you just promote individuals without making p SMS Of The Day * I THINK Paulus ‘The Rock’ Ambunda lost his belt because of this promoter and trainer. How can a world champion still be training at the Katutura Youth Complex where there is not enough equipment. I think they must follow the example of Ha Food For Thought * NAMIBIA Dairies are unable to match low prices of imported milk and this ultimately means the consumer will have to pay more for local milk. Look at the prices of the local chicken. All these profits are going in the pockets of a few in Bouquets And Brickbats * I AM pleased to hear that Cabinet has responded positively to the proposal of Namibia Dairies to support the industry. The restrictions which support the industry by reducing competition to ensure the survival of the industry is a SMS Of The Day * CEO’s golden handshakes. Somewhere on our statute books there must be a provision that if a board of directors suspends/dismisses a CEO without due regard to legal provision (substantive/procedural law) such board must carry the costs for Food For Thought * JACKY Asheeke was so right with her last column- why are the fathers of the dead children not being prosecuted? (Reference to the children who died in shack fires last week) Our justice system still protects men over women. In this cont Bouquets And Brickbats * ALEXACTUS Kaure, your column in Friday’s newspaper opened my eyes. One hardly finds impartial case study analysers in Namibia. Let’s not destroy the Polytechnic’s strong foundation (Tjivikua) as yet. At least wait until the transf SMS Of The Day * WHY doesn’t NBC listen when they are criticised? The little red chairs on Good Morning Namibia have done their part and are dirty especially at the arm rests. Please listen for once. You interview professionals and internationals on those Food For Thought * MINISTRY of Education, in order to address the shortages of teachers at primary schools why don’t you consider employing us who hold a diploma in lifelong learning and community education for teaching posts? We also did health education Bouquets And Brickbats * MY fellow Namibians, I am not a Swapo member but a third term for President Hifikepuye Pohamba will be a step closer towards attainment of Vision 2030. Believe me His Excellency has made crucial bold decisions, and I don’t regret
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BUSINESS - GENERAL
| 2013-08-07
Challenges face Bezos as he buys Washington Post
TYPEWRITER ERA ... In this March 18, 1954 photo, Philip L. Graham, left, and Eugene Meyer look at the first The Washington Post Times Herald, in Washington. Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos struck a deal on Monday, to buy The Washington Post and other newspapers for US$250 million in a startling demonstration of how the Internet has created both winners and losers and utterly transformed the media landscape. Nampa-AP
LOS ANGELES – Jeff Bezos turned selling books online into a multibillion-dollar business that has changed retailing forever. Many are now anxious to see if Bezos can do the same for the media industry, after the Amazon.com founder announced he is buying The Washington Post and other newspapers for US$250 million.
LOS ANGELES – Jeff Bezos turned selling books online into a multibillion-dollar business that has changed retailing forever. Many are now anxious to see if Bezos can do the same for the media industry, after the Amazon.com founder announced he is buying The Washington Post and other newspapers for US$250 million.
Monday’s news of the sale to the 49 year-old pioneer of Internet commerce came as a shock to observers, many of whom thought the Graham family would never sell. It also sparked hope among the ranks of reporters beset by seemingly endless cutbacks.
Among his champions are the members of the family selling the paper, including Katharine Weymouth, who promised to stay on as publisher. As some journalists shed tears, others expressed optimism.
“Jeff Bezos seems to me exactly the kind of inventive and innovative choice needed to bring about a recommitment to great journalism,” said Carl Bernstein, whose co-reporting of the Watergate scandal that brought down President Richard Nixon in the 1970s cemented the newspaper’s identity as a political watchdog.
But The Post, like most newspapers, has been losing readers and advertisers to the Internet while watching its value plummet. The paper has cut its newsroom staff repeatedly in recent years and closed several bureaus.
Many see Bezos, whose fortune was valued at US$25 billion by Forbes magazine, as being rich enough to sustain the losses the newspaper will likely face over the next few years. Bezos is buying the newspaper as an individual. Amazon.com Inc. is not involved.
Bezos said to Post employees in a letter distributed to the media that he’d be keeping his “day job” as Amazon CEO and a life in “the other Washington” where Amazon’s headquarters are based in Seattle. But he made clear there would be changes, if unforeseen ones, coming.
“The Internet is transforming almost every element of the news business: shortening news cycles, eroding long-reliable revenue sources, and enabling new kinds of competition, some of which bear little or no news-gathering costs,” Bezos wrote. “There is no map, and charting a path ahead will not be easy. We will need to invent, which means we will need to experiment.”
Washington Post chairman and CEO Donald Graham called Bezos a “uniquely good new owner.” He said the decision was made after years of newspaper industry challenges. The company, which will continue to own the Kaplan college and test preparation business along with six TV stations, will change its name but didn’t say what it will be. Bezos said in a statement that he understands the Post’s “critical role” in Washington and said its values won’t change.
“The paper’s duty will remain to its readers and not to the private interests of its owners,” Bezos said in his letter to Post employees.
He said he would follow in the footsteps of longtime publisher Katharine Graham, who died in 2001, in pursuing the truth and following important stories, “no matter the cost.”
“While I hope no one ever threatens to put one of my body parts through a wringer, if they do, thanks to Mrs. Graham’s example, I’ll be ready,” he wrote.
– Nampa-AP
Monday’s news of the sale to the 49 year-old pioneer of Internet commerce came as a shock to observers, many of whom thought the Graham family would never sell. It also sparked hope among the ranks of reporters beset by seemingly endless cutbacks.
Among his champions are the members of the family selling the paper, including Katharine Weymouth, who promised to stay on as publisher. As some journalists shed tears, others expressed optimism.
“Jeff Bezos seems to me exactly the kind of inventive and innovative choice needed to bring about a recommitment to great journalism,” said Carl Bernstein, whose co-reporting of the Watergate scandal that brought down President Richard Nixon in the 1970s cemented the newspaper’s identity as a political watchdog.
But The Post, like most newspapers, has been losing readers and advertisers to the Internet while watching its value plummet. The paper has cut its newsroom staff repeatedly in recent years and closed several bureaus.
Many see Bezos, whose fortune was valued at US$25 billion by Forbes magazine, as being rich enough to sustain the losses the newspaper will likely face over the next few years. Bezos is buying the newspaper as an individual. Amazon.com Inc. is not involved.
Bezos said to Post employees in a letter distributed to the media that he’d be keeping his “day job” as Amazon CEO and a life in “the other Washington” where Amazon’s headquarters are based in Seattle. But he made clear there would be changes, if unforeseen ones, coming.
“The Internet is transforming almost every element of the news business: shortening news cycles, eroding long-reliable revenue sources, and enabling new kinds of competition, some of which bear little or no news-gathering costs,” Bezos wrote. “There is no map, and charting a path ahead will not be easy. We will need to invent, which means we will need to experiment.”
Washington Post chairman and CEO Donald Graham called Bezos a “uniquely good new owner.” He said the decision was made after years of newspaper industry challenges. The company, which will continue to own the Kaplan college and test preparation business along with six TV stations, will change its name but didn’t say what it will be. Bezos said in a statement that he understands the Post’s “critical role” in Washington and said its values won’t change.
“The paper’s duty will remain to its readers and not to the private interests of its owners,” Bezos said in his letter to Post employees.
He said he would follow in the footsteps of longtime publisher Katharine Graham, who died in 2001, in pursuing the truth and following important stories, “no matter the cost.”
“While I hope no one ever threatens to put one of my body parts through a wringer, if they do, thanks to Mrs. Graham’s example, I’ll be ready,” he wrote.
– Nampa-AP
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(August 13)
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