The Amazon Bugle

Amazon.com overlord Jeff Bezos has purchased the Washington Post for $250 million cash. Like ya do. And then he wrote a letter to the WaPo's employees, assuring them nothing would change except for all the stuff that will change.

So, let me start with something critical. The values of The Post do not need changing.

Ha ha you sure about that?

There will, of course, be change at The Post over the coming years. That's essential and would have happened with or without new ownership. 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. 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. Our touchstone will be readers, understanding what they care about – government, local leaders, restaurant openings, scout troops, businesses, charities, governors, sports – and working backwards from there.

Scout troops? Oof.

Good luck, employees of the Washington Post, and good luck to America.