The Return of the Moguls: How Jeff Bezos and John Henry Are Remaking Newspapers for the Twenty-First Century

by Dan Kennedy

Over the course of a generation, the story of the daily newspaper has been an unchecked slide from record profitability and readership to plummeting profits, increasing irrelevance, and inevitable obsolescence. The forces killing major dailies, alternative weeklies, and small-town shoppers are well understood--or seem obvious in hindsight, at least--and the catalog of publications that have gone under reads like a who's who of American journalism. During the past half-century, old-style press barons gave way to a cabal of corporate interests who were unable or unwilling to invest in the future even as technological change was destroying their core business. The Taylor family sold the Boston Globe to the New York Times Company in 1993 for a cool $1.1 billion. Twenty years later, the Times Company resold it for just $70 million. The unexpected story, however, is not what they sold it for but who they sold it to: John Henry, the principal owner of the Boston Red Sox.

A billionaire who made his money in the world of high finance, Henry inspired optimism in Boston because of his track record as a public-spirited business executive--and because his deep pockets seemed to ensure that the shrunken newspaper would not be subjected to further downsizing. In just a few days, the sale of the Globe was overtaken by much bigger news: Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and one of the world's richest people, had reached a deal to buy the Washington Post for $250 million.

Henry's ascension at the Globe sparked hope. Bezos's purchase seemed to inspire nothing short of ecstasy, as numerous observers expressed the belief that his lofty status as one of our leading digital visionaries could help him solve the daunting financial problems facing the newspaper business.

Though Bezos and Henry are the two most prominent individuals to enter the newspaper business, a third preceded them. Aaron Kushner, a greeting-card executive, acquired California's Orange County Register in July 2012 then pursued an audacious agenda, expanding coverage and hiring journalists in an era when nearly all other newspaper owners were trying to avoid cutting both.

The Return of the Moguls chronicles a story in the making. Is a return to old-style individual ownership sparking a renaissance for the newspaper business, and if so, how?

Genres: Journalism, Nonfiction, Business, History

296 pages, Hardcover

Published March 3, 2018

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. If adding books to this author, please use Dan^^^^Kennedy.

Dan Kennedy is an assistant professor of journalism at Northeastern University and has been a working journalist for nearly forty years. He currently contributes to the Huffington Post and the Nieman Journalism Lab. (source: University of Massachusetts Press)

Reviews

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short but interesting perspectives on the in-progress revival of two papers: the Boston Globe and the Washington Post.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as a Goodreads Giveaway. The book is a well written account of the decline of newspapers during the past 20 years as the internet has taken over, and what a select few wealthy owners are doing to turn things around. It is clear that the author sees journalism as an important part of our democratic society, which I whole-heartedly agree with. I find it somewhat troubling that the only way to save the institutions meant to keep the wealthy and powerful in check is for them to be saved by wealthy and powerful men, but the examples set by Jeff Bezos and John Henry in the book would be an ideal model for future owners to follow to keep newspapers running and reporting the stories that citizens need to know about. While the author doesn't find any ultimate fix for how to keep newspapers running well into the future, he does provide a good overview of the steps being taken to try and make things work. Overall its a good read for anyone that is interested in journalism and the news industry.

[gail ober · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nicely-done, inside-baseball book about the politics and business of journalism. I would recommend this book to anyone who is currently in the field, just released after years of working for a paper so the bottom line could be increased, or who aspires to work in the field.
Unfortunately, most Americans take good journalism for granted and just assume the paper will be there in the morning or available to them on-line on a whim. Mr. Kennedy's book will explain to them the complex mechanism that makes this happens, how expensive good journalism really is, and how difficult decisions get made daily to get the best to the customer.
If I were young again, I would go to Northeastern University and take all of his classes. For those in the Boston media market, he frequently appears as a panelist on Beat the Press, a must see PBS television show that airs Friday evenings.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, a disclaimer ... Although it has been years since I held an actual paper copy of the Washington Post, I am an almost daily visitor to its website. I consider it one of my prime methods for gathering national news information. I also am a regular viewer of all sorts of cable news shows (both left and right wing) as well as the mainstream network news. I am saddened by the decline of our nation's newspapers and distressed by the attacks on the integrity of investigative journalism.
With that out of the way, I have to say that I found this to be an extremely interesting book. It is a well-written and informative behind-the-scenes look at what is happening to the newspapers of this country. It's a discouraging story but one of crucial importance. This is a book with an important message.
I won a copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway for this honest review.

[Exapno Mapcase · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kennedy provides a thorough look at the modern newspaper industry through the ownerships of John Henry, of the Boston Red Sox, and Jeff Bezos, of Amazon, as well as one that isn’t mentioned on the cover: entrepreneur Aaron Kushner. Kushner’s is probably the most interesting story with his failed attempts to buy various papers before finally buying the Orange County Register, and the troubles with that paper.

Free review copy.

[Nick Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kennedy has great insight to modern media. He's a fantastic social media follow and I check out his blog regularly.

My one qualm with this book is that it feels like a series of articles/profiles that were all glommed together for a book. The narrative arch is a bit all over the place, but overall it's very good.

[Dávid Tvrdoň · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dobrý prehľad histórie dvoch ikonických novín aj s pohľadom na ich digitálnu transformáciu a snahu nových majiteľov pretvoriť ich na nestratové podniky. Keby kniha obsahovala viac súčasnej histórie novín v digitálnom veku, bolo by toto hodnotenie 5/5

[Ilya Plotkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little dense, but very interesting.

[Laurel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kennedy’s ability to provide historical timelines, weave anecdotes and a bit of gossip through his prose made this reflective nonfiction a very good read.

[nx74defiant]

Received from LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

I found this very interesting. I learned a lot about the newspaper business. What has gone right. What has gone wrong. What they should have known. What they couldn't have foreseen.