The media world is ignoring politics at the moment, and deploying every jaw muscle to discuss Jeff Bezos’ purchase of the Washington Post. As several wags have noted already, you now have the Washington Post owned by a tech billionaire, and Slate—founded as part of Microsoft—owned by the Graham family. And I’m largely dependent on the wags, because I ain’t no media deal reporter. The best long, reported take on the sale comes from David Remnick, who was the Post’s Pulitzer-winning Russia reporter for years, a symbol of the bygone era that Washington keeps getting misty thinking about.
Laura Bennett talks to Brad Stone, whose forthcoming Bezos biography has become more interesting.
When I told him I was doing the book, the first thing he said, and it was revealing, was: “It’s too early.” Which is frankly astonishing, because it’s been twenty years, and the Amazon story is incredible. But this is why he plows all those revenues back into the business and barely shows a profit or even loses money.
Sarah Mimms goes inside the GOP’s female candidate recruitment plan, which to be fair does include the top candidate for Senate in West Virginia.
Chicago is doomed.
Neetzan Zimmerman reports from the intersection of irony and hubris.
Bob Filner not only hasn’t resigned—he’s still hiring consultants.
Andrew Ferguson asks what the execution of an insane man (in Florida, of course) will mean for the Eighth Amendment.
