Amazon Chief Jeff Bezos Has Changed the Face of Washington Post

Jeff Bezos is known to have been reluctant about the newspaper business and its future, however he surprised one and all when he purchased the iconic Washington Post from the Graham family for $250 million back in 2013. However, it cannot be denied that he turned the business of the paper around and needless to say, 'the Post' is again a revenue generating paper with a dedicated readership that has sustained it. The paper, which was founded in 1877 is one of America's pre-eminant newspapers but when Bezos took over the reins, it had been in crippling decline but Jeff Bezos has turned the business around within three years and in a recent piece in the Business Insider, the secrets of how he turned the paper around has been published recently.

When he took over the business, he was candid enough about his inexperience about the sector but also pointed out why he was also the right man to turn the business around, "I didn't know anything about the newspaper business...But I did know something about the internet.That, combined with the financial runway that I can provide, is the reason why I bought the Post." Perhaps the most important change that Bezos brought about was that of completely overhauling the paper's online presence by way of the official website, mobile phone app and social media engagement. Additionally, the online growth gets tracked with a unique software known as 'Arc' that helps in marketing and revenue generation.

Bezos does not interfere in the editorial part of the business but he does conduct regular meetings and has introduced certain things that has gone a long way in improving the business. For instance, the Amazon Fire tablets have the paper's app already installed and little things like those have helped the company immensely. The content generation is up there with the best in the business and the number of unique visitors to the website and app has left the The New York Times behind.