American Fortune Life
Chapter 1899: Spare Tires
“ You should know better than anyone that the impact of new media on the Internet is that the circulation of newspapers falls almost annually, as do profits. Average daily circulation in the first quarter of this year was 8.3 per cent lower than in the fourth quarter of last year, and today it stands at only 573,000. Three years ago, that figure was 678,482. In terms of profits, this quarter was down as much as 83 per cent compared to last year's fourth quarter. I have to think about the future. ”
Standing in front of the front door of the Washington Post building, watching Andy Smith, who had been invited to visit the newspaper's departed convoy, Donald Graham looked a little faint and quickly recovered his brightness, his face slightly lowered, saying what only his niece Catherine Vermouth, standing beside him, could hear.
And Catherine Vermouth, who is already a publisher and CEO, doesn't look very good, frowning and staring deeply at her uncle Donald Graham.
Catherine is still very convinced of her uncle. You know, Donald Graham, who inherited his mother's garment, is not an extraordinary rich kid. He went to war, was a cop, tried to create his own glory from the grassroots. On the day he took over, Donald made a statement saying, "From today on, I will follow the rules set by my mother." As it turns out, Donald not only did what he did with his mother, but because of his knowledge of Washington, he even had more sources than the newspaper reporters.
After entering the digital age, Donald Graham made many attempts on the Internet with the Washington Post, and was honored as mentor by Facebook founder Mark Zachberg. And officially, Donald doesn't have a Facebook stock, but he's been sitting on Facebook Board chairs. Enough to see its power.
However, the fall of traditional paper media is a momentum, and this is not a challenge that anyone can solve on the basis of ability. But Catherine, who had just taken over from the Washington Post, didn't seem to want to just watch the paper being sold in her hands.
“Anchor, I want to try again! ”
Donald Graham looked back at his niece, some with a smile on his desperate face, comfort and compassion, turned around and patted her back lightly, walking into the building, whispering: “I understand how you feel, and I know that every member of our family is scared to think about being sold. To be honest, so am I. But when Andy Smith walked into my sight, my thoughts and feelings changed.
For the foreseeable future, it is believed that the Post will survive without changing everyone and maintain a certain profitability, but we cannot just imagine survival. Of course, I'm not saying that selling necessarily guarantees success, but the chances of success are obviously greater.
I also know that a lot of people may get a little scared when they hear about our family's intention to sell. When a family owns a newspaper for decades, and when the family behaves in these decades with conviction, both in good times and in difficult times, while balancing principles, when the family becomes the helmsman of excellent values, when they do such an excellent job, fear of change is the only natural response.
But if you want to try it, then try it boldly, and if you can reverse the downturn, the Grahams will naturally not sell our family logo, and Andy Smith is our last option, after all, what I give Andy Smith is a clear intention and signal, not a promise. ”
“Spare tires? ”
In the convoy of Mercedes on Washington Road, Andy squinted his eyes and gently tapped the leather armrest on the airline seat, murmuring softly.
Andy was not so surprised by Donald Graham's stated intention to sell, as he had already speculated before, that the Washington Post's business was deteriorating and that it was almost impossible to reverse the downturn in traditional paper media, and that the Graham family's idea of selling the paper was well within common sense.
Andy, however, did not like the way the Graham family dragged home and thought, obviously in exchange for an already dilapidated crown, but they were still regarded as treasures that generally refused to show easily, ridiculous and pathetic self-esteem, as if they were so desperate.
Well, it has to be said that Andy was very excited and interested in being able to acquire the Washington Post, although he was very unhappy with the feeling of being considered a 'spare tire'.
The Washington Post has evolved for more than a hundred years, far more complex than the news ideals and the struggle against heroes in familiar stories. The ideals of journalism seem to have been overhanging, but political and commercial factors have made the world of journalism and the media less black and white than it is in cinema.
Even though the Washington Post has gone down, it still works with the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and is known as the three most influential newspapers in the United States today. Contacting the Oxsudsberg family, who adhered to The New York Times, and sold Le Monde's Pulitzer family, it is not difficult to see that in the world of journalism, there is no heredity, only learning, inheritance and subversion.
The acquisition of such a prestigious newspaper is, to a large extent, due to the fact that the media is an important force in upholding social equity and justice and, by its own considerations, in consolidating the power of the media and the voice of public opinion in hand.
The press plays a very key role in a free society. As a local newspaper in the United States capital, the postal service is particularly important. In particular, the Washington Post brand values and the core values it possesses,
The first is the courage to say that the postal service has always followed the conviction of the press before publishing it, and there cannot be only one source of news. Because a lot of news is about real people, their reputation, their livelihoods and their families.
The second is to bite Qingshan without relaxing, regardless of the cost geometry.
Though eye-catching and capable of acquiring, to be honest, with so many traditional paper media, Andy himself has had some headaches. After all, the Internet has changed every factor in the news industry, it has shortened the news cycle, eroded the sources of income on which newspapers depend for a long time, and created new competitive relationships, with some news being collected at very low or even no cost.
There is little road map for where traditional paper media will go in the future, and finding a good path is not easy.
This requires innovation and creativity, which means Andy has the courage to let his people do new experiments. And the test stone will be the reader, understand what they care about, is the government? Local leader, restaurant opening? Business? Charity or sports, etc., everything will work according to the reader's preferences.
Before thinking about it, however, Andy felt he should start getting his men to help him acquire a building near the White House in advance of his future takeover of the Washington Post, as the Graham family was selling only the Washington Post itself and did not include other assets belonging to the postal company. Some educational assets, as well as magazines and websites such as Foreign Policy and Stone Books, are not on sale under the Postal Corporation. In addition, the postal company's headquarters building in downtown Washington is not listed for sale.
This means that when it does take over the post, there will be an overall relocation, and Andy will naturally not be able to move the post too far from the White House, which is the center of power. As for having the money to buy the temporary Buddha foot of the office building, even less Andy's style, not being proactive and laying it out in advance, is the success factor for Andy Smith all the way to today.
Besides, now that the real estate bubble in the United States is broken, it's selling buildings everywhere, so cheap!