A New York magazine piece in June detailing Washington Post’s Jeff Bezos/Martin Baron-era innovations came with an acknowledgement that Bezos’ post-purchase financial investment would not be forever, reports FishbowlDC. Bezos is said to have invested $50 million in the company last year, according to sources, to see if, given financial resources, it could turn a profit.
According to the FishbowlDC report:
Turning a profit “only took about half a year, according to a staff memo from publisher Fred Ryan, in which he wrote that the Post “will finish this year as a profitable and growing company.”
“Contributing to that is an increase in subscriptions, which many publications, including the New York Times, have experienced this election cycle, but also an increase in revenue from digital advertising. Digital subscriptions are up 75 percent since the beginning of the year and digital ad revenue is up 40 percent compared to last year, according to Ryan’s memo.
“That financial boon will translate into more newsroom jobs and an expansion of the Post’s multimedia efforts.”
(In further positive developments, The Washington Post had 99.1 million unique visitors in November 2016, marking a 38 percent increase over last year, according to current comScore reporting.)
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