海角大神

While billionaire Jeffrey Bezos鈥檚 $250 million purchase of the Washington Post came as a surprise聽鈥� some say shock 鈥� to many,聽it is just the latest in a recent聽back-to-the-future trend of wealthy businessmen taking聽up the helm of ailing聽newspapers across the country.

Over the weekend, Red Sox owner John Henry announced plans to buy The Boston Globe, while magnates from the real estate and greeting card industries have snapped up publications such as The San Diego Union Tribune and the Orange County Register.

鈥淐learly we are seeing notable great dailies come into the hands of very wealthy individual owners,鈥� says Mark Jurkowitz of the Pew Research Center.

鈥淭hese are a new class of owners,鈥� points out Mr. Jurkowitz. 鈥淭hey are more unfettered.鈥�

In the case of Mr. Bezos, he notes for instance, the Amazon founder and new Globe owner will be able to operate without having to explain his actions to outside shareholders.

鈥淗is private ownership gives him complete room for maneuvering,鈥� Jurkowitz adds.

The reason for the flurry of purchases, meanwhile, is the falling fortunes of many major papers, he says.

鈥淲e are seeing this聽new wave of wealthy dynamic owners taking over a business聽because they are getting the business at bargain-basement prices,鈥� he says. The New York Times, for instance, which bought the Globe for $1.1. billion, sold it for just $70 million, what some analysts have called a give-away.

But can these new owners do anything to improve the fortunes of their new possessions?

Key to the perception by both sellers and buyers that they may be able to navigate a new future 鈥� where for instance, the Graham family, owners of the Post for some 80 years, could not 鈥� is their outsider status.

鈥淐learly they have different ideas about how to run media operations, and, most important, they are not from newspaper or media culture,鈥� Jurkowitz adds.

Chris Tolles, CEO of Topix,聽one of the leading news communities on the Web, says the media properties will fare better as they return to individual聽publishers.

鈥淎 corporate or private equity structure is one of the worst聽possible structures for a metro daily,鈥� he says, adding that such media dynasties as the Grahams and the Chandlers, former owners of the Los Angeles Times, show that 鈥渂illionaire publishers can do a good job with newspapers, not so much their grandchildren.鈥�

Nonetheless, Mr. Tolles suggests there are some important聽caveats about outsiders moving into a new business. Look at聽the tactics in other fields聽for lessons on how聽a businessman might proceed, Tolles says. In the end, even聽amid ferocious competition, the goal of聽journalism is to inform, whereas, points out Tolles, 鈥淎mazon鈥檚 core competency is driving聽other companies out of business.鈥�

Others express similar skepticism about聽what to expect from Bezos. There is a聽demonstrated history of preferring part-time and temporary workers at Amazon鈥檚 fulfillment houses, points out Mike Elk, economics and business writer for the progressive magazine, In These Times.

鈥淚 have no optimism that he would do anything less when he gets to the Washington Post,鈥� he says, adding that this matters because unless you have the reporters to do informed, long-form journalism that聽means聽something, 鈥渋t won鈥檛 matter if he figures out a business model that allows some version of the Washington Post to survive.鈥�

Bezos himself, in an open letter to the Washington Post staff in which he sought to confirm his commitment to good journalism, has suggested that as owner, he hopes to channel the courage he says earlier owners have shown.

That includes 鈥渢he courage to say wait, be sure, slow down, get another source. Real people and their reputations, livelihoods and families are at stake.鈥�

It also includes the courage that comes, perhaps, from having a personal fortune of some $25 billion: 鈥淭he courage to say follow the story, no matter the cost.鈥�