Are Mr Henry and Mr Bezos mad to want to own newspapers? The health of the industry has been declining for some time. Newspapers today are worth around 10% of what they were ten years ago, reckons Ken Doctor, an industry analyst. However, it may be that Mr Bezos, who has made his billions by building a company that sells goods cheaply, thinks that years of print decline and negative sentiment about newspapers’ prospects have helped him secure his own bargain price for the Post.
He is not alone in showing interest in the sector. Last year Warren Buffett’s firm, Berkshire Hathaway, bought a legion of newspapers from Media General. The headline for the state of America’s newspapers may be a grim one, but some newspapers are successfully charging more for their content, either online or in print (by raising cover prices). Last year total revenue for American newspapers declined only 2%. Some think the newspaper industry may be finally reaching a bottom. Perhaps Mr Bezos is one of them.
