A Decade Ago, Jeff Bezos Bought a Newspaper. Now He’s Paying Attention to It Again.

During his tenure as government editor at The Washington Post, Martin Baron ran right into a persistent drawback.

Jeff Bezos had bought The Post for $250 million in 2013, lower than a 12 months after Mr. Baron had taken over. Mr. Bezos, who arrived at media possession after founding Amazon and remaking on-line purchasing, needed his prime editor to rework the newspaper from a regional news group into a very world one.

But Mr. Bezos, whose representatives stored an eye fixed on the finances, didn’t consider The Post wanted so as to add many new editors to perform that job. Reporters have been labeled as “direct” workers and editors as “indirect” — and his choice was to maintain the “indirect” numbers down.

So, Mr. Baron got here up with a workaround, in accordance with his coming memoir.

“To avoid setting off alarms up the line, my deputies and I would strip the word ‘editor’ from proposed new positions whenever possible,” Mr. Baron writes. “‘Analyst’ or ‘strategist’ were among the limited set of workarounds.”

These days, Mr. Bezos is aware of extra in regards to the news enterprise. And in latest months, he has turn into extra concerned with The Post’s operations, stepping in as employees morale cratered and the enterprise struggled.

Mr. Bezos has stated he needs The Post to be worthwhile, however it’s unlikely to achieve that concentrate on this 12 months.

The Post is on a tempo to lose about $100 million in 2023, in accordance with two folks with information of the corporate’s funds; two different folks briefed on the scenario stated the corporate was anticipating to overlook its forecasts for advert income this 12 months. They spoke on the situation of anonymity to debate inner monetary issues. The Post has struggled to extend the variety of its paying clients because the 2020 election, when its digital subscriptions peaked at three million. It now has round 2.5 million.

A spokesperson for Mr. Bezos declined to make him obtainable for an interview. Patty Stonesifer, The Post’s interim chief government, stated Mr. Bezos was pleased with “every dollar invested” within the firm. One individual aware of Mr. Bezos’ plans stated The Post had deliberate for 2023 to be a “year for investment.”

“I’m very enthusiastic about what we can do here at The Washington Post in the decade ahead,” Ms. Stonesifer stated in an announcement. “Jeff’s second decade of ownership of The Post should be even more exciting.”

Mr. Bezos’ buy of The Washington Post ended a long time of possession by the Graham household — which had steered the paper via its legendary protection of Watergate and the Pentagon Papers — and signified a brand new period of enlargement below one of many world’s most well-known entrepreneurs. In a gathering with employees shortly after his buy, Mr. Bezos inspired Post workers to experiment digitally, benefiting from the “gifts of the internet,” similar to world attain, that had made Amazon a shocking success. He supplied ample monetary help to increase the newsroom.

Mr. Bezos weighed in on product selections and employed Fred Ryan, former chief government of Politico, to function writer to switch Katharine Weymouth, a scion of the Graham household. He stored Mr. Baron in place as The Post’s prime editor till his retirement in 2021, often referring to him as the very best journalism tutor an proprietor may ask for. He helped select Sally Buzbee because the successor to Mr. Baron, inviting her to his house in Washington’s upscale Kalorama neighborhood.

But after an preliminary surge of curiosity that lasted a number of years, and following his resolution to step down as Amazon’s chief government, Mr. Bezos receded considerably at The Post, in accordance with two folks aware of his interactions with the newsroom.

That modified in January, after Ms. Buzbee spoke with Mr. Bezos and conveyed an pressing message: Morale was low at The Post. Much of it, she stated, stemmed from missteps by the newspaper’s chief enterprise government, Mr. Ryan, in accordance with two folks aware of her remarks.

Ms. Buzbee’s relationship with Mr. Ryan had been fraught. He had accused Cameron Barr, her prime deputy, of leaking details about The Post’s operations to the press, in accordance with three folks aware of his feedback, and had sought his ouster. Through a spokesperson, Mr. Ryan denied accusing Mr. Barr of leaking data and attempting to do away with him. The Post declined to touch upon the scenario. Two folks aware of the matter stated there was no proof to help the leaking claims.

Many at The Post had turn into annoyed with what they considered as a stultified enterprise tradition over which Mr. Ryan presided, and had relayed these considerations to Ms. Buzbee.

The Post was additionally bleeding expertise. In the previous 12 months, a number of distinguished reporters, together with the Pulitzer Prize winners Eli Saslow, Robert Samuels and Stephanie McCrummen, left, together with prime editors together with Mr. Barr; Steven Ginsberg, a longtime editor; David Malitz, senior tradition editor; and Sharif Durhams, deputy managing editor.

There was an analogous exodus amongst prime Post executives, together with Shailesh Prakash, chief data officer; Joy Robins, chief income officer; Kat Downs Mulder, chief product officer; and Kristine Coratti Kelly, chief communications officer. (Ms. Robins, Mr. Saslow, Mr. Malitz and Mr. Ginsberg have joined The New York Times Company.)

In January, Mr. Bezos made a uncommon look within the newsroom. He sat in on a morning news assembly, and later within the day he met with a handful of Post journalists. During a few of his gatherings, a number of Post workers expressed considerations about Mr. Ryan’s missteps and the path of the paper.

In June, Mr. Ryan introduced his resignation, telling workers that he deliberate to begin the Center on Public Civility, a brand new undertaking by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, the place he’s chairman of the board. Mr. Bezos agreed to supply funding for the middle.

In an interview with The Times final month, Mr. Ryan stated he’d had “a lot of conversations” with Mr. Bezos in regards to the new group.

Mr. Bezos appointed Ms. Stonesifer, a pal who has served on the board of Amazon for greater than 20 years, to run The Post in Mr. Ryan’s absence and to function an interim chief government whereas the seek for a everlasting one was underway.

Ms. Stonesifer — who is just not taking a wage for the job — has already begun to place her stamp on The Post. She is assembly often with employees members, asking for suggestions on what she calls “flowers,” issues that persons are pleased with and need to proceed rising, and “weeds,” points that folks need handled.

On July 11, she and Mr. Ryan employed Alex MacCallum, a veteran of The Times and AE Daily News, to be The Post’s chief income officer, and named Vineet Khosla because the newspaper’s chief know-how officer. Ms. Stonesifer has additionally repeatedly informed employees members that Mr. Bezos is absolutely dedicated to the enterprise and sees the newspaper as a legacy for his household.

Mr. Bezos has personally weighed in on an experimental undertaking being developed for The Post’s opinion part, which is being run by the editorial web page editor David Shipley, a former Bloomberg editor he helped recruit. The initiative — which doesn’t but have an official identify — is exploring a discussion board for readers in cities throughout the United States to submit their very own opinions and commentary.

Mr. Bezos has informed confidants that the brand new endeavor, which is being developed with assist from the previous New York journal editor Adam Moss, is a chance to achieve readers who might have tuned out the news, in accordance with 4 folks aware of its growth. Mr. Bezos has been having common conferences with Mr. Shipley to debate the undertaking.

Other modifications which are deliberate at The Post embrace a rebooting of the 54-year-old Style part in September. According to 3 folks with information of the plan, the overhaul will embrace an internet redesign.

Mr. Ryan’s exit is seen amongst workers as a victory for Ms. Buzbee, whose relations with The Post’s newsroom have sometimes been strained since she joined from The Associated Press two years in the past. The Post has continued to ship high-quality journalism and in May gained two Pulitzer Prizes for its reporting, whereas a guide written by two Post reporters was awarded the final nonfiction prize.

Ms. Buzbee is now assembly commonly with Ms. Stonesifer and appears to be energized by that collaboration, in accordance with folks within the newsroom, who’re additionally heartened by Ms. Stonesifer’s shut ties to Mr. Bezos.

“There’s a sense of hope, which we haven’t had for a long time,” stated Sally Quinn, a longtime Post journalist and the widow of Ben Bradlee, a former prime editor of The Post.