Speculating on Speculations about things that havn't (and may never) Happen

Such is life.

THE INITIAL SPECULATION:
< http://www.niemanlab.org/2013/09/the-newsononics-of-jeff-bezos-and-warren-buffetts-runway/ >

According to the article above, Jeff Beezos of Amazon.com and, as of recently, The Washington Post, has announced step one in his 'Save-The-Dying-Newspaper-Industry' master plan. Namely: to create runway.

'What is runway?' you so astutely ask. It is the most American fix of all: Beezos is going to throw money at the problem. The analogy of an airport runway is not a good one. Think of Beezos as a momma kangaroo and The Washinton Post as his little, infant offspring. Until the offspring is strong enough to stand on it's own two feet, Beezos has been kind enough to offer it support in his deep pockets/marsupial pouch.

Facetiousness aside, this is good news for The Post. Beezos has given The Post a cushion, made of $100 bills, as insurance against too great a fall. The Post is free to experiment. They can afford a few failed business ventures, and, with Beezos as their captain, may even find themselves pulling in a profit.

At the end of the article, the writer posts 4 possibilities, based on observations of the News Industry and Beezos' work history, that Beezos may try in an effort to save The Post. In doing so, Beezos hopes to create a viable business plan for the rest of the journalistic community.

The first idea suggested by the writer is a practice that (apparently) was lucrative for Beezos during his Amazon years. However, it will not transition well to the newspaper industry (as I'm sure Beezos is already aware). The writer proposed that Beezos drop the price of subscription in an effort to enhance  the quantity of subscriptions demanded by the public. In the case of Amazon Prime, this strategy proved very effective.

A newspaper, however, cannot afford such a gamble. It will never be able to lower the price of a subscription to be competitive with alternate goods in the same market. In other words, the price of getting news on the internet will always be cheaper, if not free, than The Post's subscription service. Therefore, while lowering the price may increase the quantity of demand, it does not make Print News competition for alternative News soruces, and thus only delays the inevitable. Eventually, the competition will win.

The second idea, one for a kindle-edition of the post, is a very good one and, I believe, highly likely to become a reality in the near future. Beezos has already secured a large consumer population on The Kindle, so it only makes sense to use that readily-available marketing pool for The Post. Even if most users hate The Post, exposure to a different, Kindle-kindle using demographic would be good for The Post.

Beezos is planning something. Whatever it is, the rest of the News world is anxiously fidgeting and speculating, hoping that from the great mind which gave us Amazon.com, can come the answer Journalism is looking for. Again, speaking economically, it might be better to diversify our investment, not place all our eggs in the same basket. Just a thought, not an omen. Good luck, Beezos, wherever you are.