American Fortune Life

Washington's glorious lights in the evening continue the liveliness and hustle of the day. Dotted lights come from afar, with the sound of cars flying by, once again turning into infinite dotted stars, countless rays of light connected to a shining, flowing light belt, long roads like galaxies in the sky.

“Honey, don't you think there's something strange about Donald Graham tonight? ”

In Maybach, walking smoothly, Ivana snuggled in Andy's arms with a hint of weariness, her eyes slightly squinting, seemed to think of something, her eyebrows raised her pretty face slightly, looking at Andy's side face, who was also closing her eyes and asking.

“It's kind of weird, really. It always felt like he'd been trying to find out if I was interested in buying the Washington Post like...” Andy thinks about the other person's questioning about his future political intentions, about the future direction of the press, and about some of the dilemmas of the Washington Post to an outsider like him.

Although he had bought Newsweek for a dollar at the time, his relationship with the Graham family was not very deep. The reason for the success of the deal was just Zhou Yu beating the yellow lid, and he was willing to beat one by one.

“Exactly!” Ivana sat up with a little excitement, her eyes burning, and Andy looked at her and said, “The future is uncertain, the traditional media are beginning to be left behind by this era, the industry's downturn is hidden, and the Post is a drop in volume and revenue section. In recent years, the losses have been severe, perhaps finding a suitable new owner has instead become a bitter consolation. ”

Andy had some tight eyebrows, heard Ivana's bold guess, and was also stunned. He didn't dare to think before, it wasn't about the money, but he didn't think that the Grahams would sell The Post, believe someone who knew the Washington Post, and wouldn't think that the Grahams would.

Since the Watergate incident, the Washington Post has become a benchmark for the American press, and their courage and choices at the threshold of that era have become a colorful part of the history of American news and American politics. Catherine Graham became one of the most powerful women in the world. In the 20 years since his current family, Donald Graham, took over the CEO title, The Washington Post won 32 Pulitzer Press Awards, second only to The New York Times.

The Graham family had been in control of the newspaper for 80 years, enough to see how much the family loved it and how sad it was to sell it.

“unlikely...” The more Andy wanted to feel impossible, some foxes said.

“Why not? I can't think of a better fit for the ideal owner of The Washington Post. You're rich, you've got ideas, you're new to the IT world, and most importantly, you're willing to endure years of loss and meagre profits. And having acquired those newspaper operations before, you've already told the outside world with real action that you've been adhering to the newspaper's news philosophy and have no political intentions. ”

But Ivana was convinced of her intuition and analysis, and the more excited she was, the less excited she could be. The Washington Post, along with The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, belonged to the first tier of American newspapers and was the only newspaper that could really emulate and compete with The New York Times in terms of talent, depth and breadth of coverage, international news coverage, etc.

“But even if the Grahams were willing to sell the Washington Post, there would be many limitations and assumptions that would make it less easy to acquire it.” Andy was a little believable when Ivana said that.

Ivana's eyes sparkled and her mouth rose. She smiled uncomfortably: "Oh, once the newspaper falls into your hands, you can hold it as long as you want, you can reform it as you want, and you can spend as much as you want to grow the newspaper. Those so-called restrictions are just a wish of the Graham family! ”

“ I do have a wish. Maybe I should talk to Andy Smith alone. ”

At this time, Donald Graham frowned slightly, similarly in a Rolls-Royce on the streets of Washington, and hesitated to reveal his thoughts to Catherine Wermouse, CEO of his niece's Post.

“He... Aren't you too young?” Catherine had some bitterness in her heart, but she also knew better than anyone that the Washington Post was already running a blood transfusion for the Washington Post Group, a 100-year-old newspaper that had become a drag for the group, but no one could easily make a decision to sell it, after all, which represented the honor of the Graham family.

“Moreover, while most media buyers, such as Murdoch, initially vowed not to interfere in newspaper content, they would eventually break their promise that they would find it difficult to resist the temptation to take control of influential media such as the Post, which is now dominated by Andy Smith, whose political stance is mainly to the left, and which may be guided by Andy Smith's past political bias.

Especially the family behind him, even if he doesn't have any political intentions himself, but don't forget old Smith, and the already prominent Auston Smith, whether the Post will be a tool for the Smith family in pursuit of political intentions, which I don't think there will be any suspense.

If you look at what's in the Los Angeles Times and Newsweek today, you can see that there's really no non-interference in operations, as he said. ”

Donna de Graham frowned and looked deeply at her nephew. After a moment of silence, she shook her head and smiled. “In that case, wait and see... ”

“Hoo--”

Hearing Don NA De, Catherine breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that he had temporarily dismissed his thoughts, but she also knew that she could not escape without fundamentally resolving the plight of the Washington Post. On that day, she was saddened by the difficult situation facing the paper media and wondering why Andy Smith was willing to buy newspapers at a high price if the newspaper industry was so difficult to run, and the visitors did not refuse to buy newspapers with heavy losses.

With the shrinkage of traditional paper media, emerging media are emerging in an unstoppable way. Although almost all traditional media are currently experimenting with the Internet +, can the content advantages of traditional paper media and the technological advantages of emerging media be effectively integrated through the use of Internet technology to transform a newspaper in Nippon West Mountain into a flourishing and profitable media? This is still an unknown number.

“Anchor, why do you value Andy Smith? ”

Catherine still questioned herself, knowing that her uncle had created the idea of selling the newspaper to Andy Smith without much thought, but only temporarily, so she could easily temporarily dispel it.

“He insisted in front of me and Bennett that the paper media would disappear within 20 years...” Donna De's eyes shrugged and his mouth smiled slightly, seemingly helpless and compelled to continue: “He said the Internet was changing almost all the elements of the news industry, shortening the news update cycle and shaking traditional sources of income. Newspapers are bound to change over the next few years, and this is an inevitable trend...

When Bennett asked how he managed to make the Weekly News and the Los Angeles Times work, he stressed that he would not be responsible for the daily affairs of the newspaper and that the core values of the newspaper remained unchanged. Don't let the newspaper worry about money, fold back for the dollar, keep the story pure! ”

“Oh, that's very generous of you to say...” Catherine shook her head and grinned.

Don NA de Graham squints his eyes and says softly and faintly: "The technological elites that Andy Smith represents are the main beneficiaries of the world and, in a sense, have been taking the hitchhike built by our traditional media with less social responsibility and reward for society.

Now, Andy Smith's constant acquisition of traditional media, perhaps a way for the tech elite to reward society, has begun transfusing the traditional media and rebuilding the media ecology with new ideas and ways. On the other hand, he is also gaining social and political influence through the acquisition of traditional media... ”

Catherine looked at her eyes and smiled again, seeing that the decision in her uncle's heart had not changed, but rather than watching the Washington Post slowly die in her own hands and become the sinner of the family and the laughingstock of the outside world, it would be better to find a more suitable successor at the right time, not only to recover some losses, but also to escape the scolding name of the loser.