October 29, 2024 • 11 mins
Can Jeff Bezos SAVE Mainstream Media?? www.watchdogonwallstreet.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Watchdog on Wall Street podcast explaining the news coming
out of the complex worlds of finance, economics, and politics
and the impact it we'll have on everyday Americans. Author,
investment banker, consumer advocate, analyst, and trader Chris Markowski.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Jeff Bezos Unplugged.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Oh boy, man, the left is having a hissy fit.
Ah many many, many subscribers the Washington Posts have canceled.
There are subscription they're upset that the Washington Posts didn't
endorse anybody.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Well again, they would have.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
They would have canceled their subscription if the Post endorsed
Donald Trump. It's not just the Washington Post, it's also
the La Times USA today taking a pass on this.
So Bezos Bezos put out an OpEd first and foremost. Okay,
(01:03):
love them, hate him whatever it may be. I'm sorry.
I most certainly respect that guy.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
I do.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
How can you not respect somebody who started a company
and go online and take a look. Take a look
at the pictures Google Bezos nineteen ninety four and see
him working at a tiny little office with a spray
(01:36):
painted sign Amazon dot Com on the side, him loading
up books, loading up books to sell online.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Again, this is the early advent of the Internet.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Again, I remember back in the day, they had all
of these internet retailers that were coming out at that
point in time. There was Amazon and pets dot Com
remember the sock puppet from the commercials.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Young people are not going to know about this.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
There was CD Now, all of these companies and at
the time I didn't Again I say which one is
going to make it?
Speaker 2 (02:10):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
And a lot of these companies that their stock price
went through the roof. You had various different analysts back
then trying to make a name for themselves driving the
price up. Well, when Push come Shove Amazon one, they
stopped just selling books and now they sell everything everything. Yeah,
(02:37):
I've got We've got people working for us at Markowski
Investments with twenty something offices around the country. This guy's
doing over half a billion dollars in revenue the year.
He has one over one point five million employees. That
(02:59):
is number two in the world. Number one is Walmart.
Think about that. Oh well, you're not impressed by that. Okay,
might not like the guy for whatever reason it may be,
but you certainly got to respect him. Kay, you go back,
I said, look at the pictures of bezos. Back in
nineteen ninety four, he Almoso was like Gilbert from Revenge
(03:23):
of the Nerds.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Now and now he's hitting.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
The weight room and all sorts of stuff, and he's
he's around on his yacht.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
People are all upset about that. Oh my god, that's ridiculous.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
He just bought a people at a five hundred million
dollar yacht, so so he didn't earn it. He didn't
build something worthy of that, not to mention the facts.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
So what.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
How many people think about this for a second? How
many people are putting food on the table based upon
the fact that he's spent five hundred million dollars on
a yacht. Not the people just working on his driving
his yacht, and the chefs on the yacht and the
people working on it and all that good stuff. But
the people have built it and the suppliers. That's what
makes the world go round again. Take that and put
(04:11):
that aside. I'm sorry, okay. I want to talk about
his opinion piece today based upon the fact that all
all journalists are quitting and this one is quitting, and
that one's quitting. Whatever he writes in the annual public
surveys about trust and reputation. Journalists and the media have
(04:33):
regularly fallen near the very bottom, often just above Congress,
but in this year's Gallup poll, we've managed to fall
below Congress. Our profession is now the least trusted of all.
Something we are doing is clearly not working. You're right, Jeff,
(04:55):
you're right. Let me give it an analogy. Voting machines
must meet to requirements. They must count the vote accurately,
and people must believe they count the vote accurately. The
second requirement is distinct from and just as important as
the first. Likewise, with newspapers, we must be accurate, and
(05:17):
we must be believed to be accurate. It's a bitter
pill to swallow, but we are failing on the second requirement.
Most people believe the media is biased. Anyone who doesn't
see this is paying scant attention to reality, and those
who fight reality lose. Reality is an undefeated champion.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
It would be.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Easy to blame others for our long and continued to
fall and credibility and therefore decline in impact, but a
victim mentality will not help. Complaining is not a strategy.
We must work harder to control what we can control
to increase our credibility. Presidential endorsements do nothing to tip
the scales of an election. Again, I've said this a
(06:02):
zillion times. Why in the world do newspapers endorse anyone?
No undecided voters in Pennsylvania are going to say, I'm
going with newspaper as endorsement.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
None.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
What presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias,
a perception of non independence. Ending them is a principal decision,
and it's the right one. Eugene Meyer, publisher the Washington
Post from nineteen thirty three to nineteen forty six, thought
the same, and he was right by itself. Declining to
(06:37):
endorse presidential candidates is not enough to move us very
far up the trust scale, but it's a meaningful step
in the right direction. I wish we had made the
change earlier than we did, in a moment further from
the election and the emotions around it. That was an
inadequate planning and not some intentional strategy. I would also
like to be clear that no quid pro quo of
(06:59):
any kind is that work here. Neither campaign nor candidate
was consulted or informed at any level or in any
way about this decision. It was made entirely internally. Dave Limp,
the chief executive of one of my compani's, Blue Origin,
met with former President Donald Trump.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
On the day of our announcement.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
I sighed when I found out, because I knew it
would provide ammunition to those who would like to frame
this as anything other than a principal decision. But the
fact is I didn't know about the meeting beforehand. Even
Limp didn't know about it in advance. The meeting was
scheduled quickly that morning. There's no connection between it and
our decision on presidential endorsements, and any suggestion otherwise is
(07:40):
false when it comes to the appearance of conflict, I
am not an ideal owner of the Post. Every day, somewhere,
some Amazon executive or Blue Origin executive, or someone from
the other philanthropies and companies I own or invest in,
is meeting with government officials. I once wrote that the
(08:03):
Post is a complexifier for me. It is, but it
turns out I'm also a complexifier for the Post. You
can see my wealth and my business interests as a
bulwark against intimidation, or you can see them as a
web of conflicting interests. Only my own principles can tip
(08:24):
the balance from one to the other. I assure you
that my views here are in fact principled, and I
believe my track record as owner of the Post since
twenty thirteen backs this up. You are, of course free
to make your own determination, but I challenge you to
find one instance in these those eleven years where I
have prevailed upon anyone at the Post in favor of
(08:46):
my own interests. It hasn't happened. Lack of credibility isn't
unique to the Post. Our brethren newspapers have the same issue,
and it's a problem not only for media, but also
for the nation. Many people or turning to off the
cuff podcasts, an accurate social media posts, and other unverified
news sources which can quickly spread misinformation and deepened divisions.
(09:09):
The Washington Posts and New York Times win prizes, but
increasingly we talk only to a certain elite. More and
more we talk to ourselves. It wasn't always this way.
In the nineteen nineties, we achieved eighty percent household penetration
in the DC metro area. While I do not and
will not push my personal interest, I will also not
(09:30):
allow this paper to stay on autopilot and fade into irrelevance,
overtaken by unresearched podcasts and social media barbs. Not without
a fight. It's too important. The stakes are too high
now more than ever. The world needs a credible, trusted,
independent voice, and where better for that voice to originate
than the capital city the most important country in the world.
(09:51):
To win this fight, we will have to exercise new muscles.
Some changes will be a return to the past, and
some will be new.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
In criticism will be.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
Part and parcel of anything new. Of course, this is
the way the world. None of this will be easy,
but it'll be worth it. I'm so grateful to be
a part of this endeavor. Many of the finest journalists
you'll ever find work at the Washington Post, and they
work painstakingly every day to get to the truth. They
deserve to be believed. Again, no problem with this, and
I'm gonna be honest with you. You know I post
(10:24):
for some time. Has it changed since Bezos has taken over? No,
it hasn't had the same thing New York Times changed,
not really same left wing rag. I do have to
say the Wall Street Journal most certainly has changed a
lot since NewsCorp has taken it over.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
But again, I would love to get back to a.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
Day and age where again, some credibility can be brought
back to these publications.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
But again, like Bezos says, they've got a long way
to go.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
Again, you might not like the guy, whatever it may be,
got to respect that decision. Watchdog on Wall Street dot
Com
The Watchdog on Wall Street podcast explaining the news coming
out of the complex worlds of finance, economics, and politics
and the impact it we'll have on everyday Americans. Author,
investment banker, consumer advocate, analyst, and trader Chris Markowski.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Jeff Bezos Unplugged.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Oh boy, man, the left is having a hissy fit.
Ah many many, many subscribers the Washington Posts have canceled.
There are subscription they're upset that the Washington Posts didn't
endorse anybody.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Well again, they would have.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
They would have canceled their subscription if the Post endorsed
Donald Trump. It's not just the Washington Post, it's also
the La Times USA today taking a pass on this.
So Bezos Bezos put out an OpEd first and foremost. Okay,
(01:03):
love them, hate him whatever it may be. I'm sorry.
I most certainly respect that guy.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
I do.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
How can you not respect somebody who started a company
and go online and take a look. Take a look
at the pictures Google Bezos nineteen ninety four and see
him working at a tiny little office with a spray
(01:36):
painted sign Amazon dot Com on the side, him loading
up books, loading up books to sell online.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Again, this is the early advent of the Internet.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Again, I remember back in the day, they had all
of these internet retailers that were coming out at that
point in time. There was Amazon and pets dot Com
remember the sock puppet from the commercials.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Young people are not going to know about this.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
There was CD Now, all of these companies and at
the time I didn't Again I say which one is
going to make it?
Speaker 2 (02:10):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
And a lot of these companies that their stock price
went through the roof. You had various different analysts back
then trying to make a name for themselves driving the
price up. Well, when Push come Shove Amazon one, they
stopped just selling books and now they sell everything everything. Yeah,
(02:37):
I've got We've got people working for us at Markowski
Investments with twenty something offices around the country. This guy's
doing over half a billion dollars in revenue the year.
He has one over one point five million employees. That
(02:59):
is number two in the world. Number one is Walmart.
Think about that. Oh well, you're not impressed by that. Okay,
might not like the guy for whatever reason it may be,
but you certainly got to respect him. Kay, you go back,
I said, look at the pictures of bezos. Back in
nineteen ninety four, he Almoso was like Gilbert from Revenge
(03:23):
of the Nerds.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Now and now he's hitting.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
The weight room and all sorts of stuff, and he's
he's around on his yacht.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
People are all upset about that. Oh my god, that's ridiculous.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
He just bought a people at a five hundred million
dollar yacht, so so he didn't earn it. He didn't
build something worthy of that, not to mention the facts.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
So what.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
How many people think about this for a second? How
many people are putting food on the table based upon
the fact that he's spent five hundred million dollars on
a yacht. Not the people just working on his driving
his yacht, and the chefs on the yacht and the
people working on it and all that good stuff. But
the people have built it and the suppliers. That's what
makes the world go round again. Take that and put
(04:11):
that aside. I'm sorry, okay. I want to talk about
his opinion piece today based upon the fact that all
all journalists are quitting and this one is quitting, and
that one's quitting. Whatever he writes in the annual public
surveys about trust and reputation. Journalists and the media have
(04:33):
regularly fallen near the very bottom, often just above Congress,
but in this year's Gallup poll, we've managed to fall
below Congress. Our profession is now the least trusted of all.
Something we are doing is clearly not working. You're right, Jeff,
(04:55):
you're right. Let me give it an analogy. Voting machines
must meet to requirements. They must count the vote accurately,
and people must believe they count the vote accurately. The
second requirement is distinct from and just as important as
the first. Likewise, with newspapers, we must be accurate, and
(05:17):
we must be believed to be accurate. It's a bitter
pill to swallow, but we are failing on the second requirement.
Most people believe the media is biased. Anyone who doesn't
see this is paying scant attention to reality, and those
who fight reality lose. Reality is an undefeated champion.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
It would be.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Easy to blame others for our long and continued to
fall and credibility and therefore decline in impact, but a
victim mentality will not help. Complaining is not a strategy.
We must work harder to control what we can control
to increase our credibility. Presidential endorsements do nothing to tip
the scales of an election. Again, I've said this a
(06:02):
zillion times. Why in the world do newspapers endorse anyone?
No undecided voters in Pennsylvania are going to say, I'm
going with newspaper as endorsement.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
None.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
What presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias,
a perception of non independence. Ending them is a principal decision,
and it's the right one. Eugene Meyer, publisher the Washington
Post from nineteen thirty three to nineteen forty six, thought
the same, and he was right by itself. Declining to
(06:37):
endorse presidential candidates is not enough to move us very
far up the trust scale, but it's a meaningful step
in the right direction. I wish we had made the
change earlier than we did, in a moment further from
the election and the emotions around it. That was an
inadequate planning and not some intentional strategy. I would also
like to be clear that no quid pro quo of
(06:59):
any kind is that work here. Neither campaign nor candidate
was consulted or informed at any level or in any
way about this decision. It was made entirely internally. Dave Limp,
the chief executive of one of my compani's, Blue Origin,
met with former President Donald Trump.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
On the day of our announcement.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
I sighed when I found out, because I knew it
would provide ammunition to those who would like to frame
this as anything other than a principal decision. But the
fact is I didn't know about the meeting beforehand. Even
Limp didn't know about it in advance. The meeting was
scheduled quickly that morning. There's no connection between it and
our decision on presidential endorsements, and any suggestion otherwise is
(07:40):
false when it comes to the appearance of conflict, I
am not an ideal owner of the Post. Every day, somewhere,
some Amazon executive or Blue Origin executive, or someone from
the other philanthropies and companies I own or invest in,
is meeting with government officials. I once wrote that the
(08:03):
Post is a complexifier for me. It is, but it
turns out I'm also a complexifier for the Post. You
can see my wealth and my business interests as a
bulwark against intimidation, or you can see them as a
web of conflicting interests. Only my own principles can tip
(08:24):
the balance from one to the other. I assure you
that my views here are in fact principled, and I
believe my track record as owner of the Post since
twenty thirteen backs this up. You are, of course free
to make your own determination, but I challenge you to
find one instance in these those eleven years where I
have prevailed upon anyone at the Post in favor of
(08:46):
my own interests. It hasn't happened. Lack of credibility isn't
unique to the Post. Our brethren newspapers have the same issue,
and it's a problem not only for media, but also
for the nation. Many people or turning to off the
cuff podcasts, an accurate social media posts, and other unverified
news sources which can quickly spread misinformation and deepened divisions.
(09:09):
The Washington Posts and New York Times win prizes, but
increasingly we talk only to a certain elite. More and
more we talk to ourselves. It wasn't always this way.
In the nineteen nineties, we achieved eighty percent household penetration
in the DC metro area. While I do not and
will not push my personal interest, I will also not
(09:30):
allow this paper to stay on autopilot and fade into irrelevance,
overtaken by unresearched podcasts and social media barbs. Not without
a fight. It's too important. The stakes are too high
now more than ever. The world needs a credible, trusted,
independent voice, and where better for that voice to originate
than the capital city the most important country in the world.
(09:51):
To win this fight, we will have to exercise new muscles.
Some changes will be a return to the past, and
some will be new.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
In criticism will be.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
Part and parcel of anything new. Of course, this is
the way the world. None of this will be easy,
but it'll be worth it. I'm so grateful to be
a part of this endeavor. Many of the finest journalists
you'll ever find work at the Washington Post, and they
work painstakingly every day to get to the truth. They
deserve to be believed. Again, no problem with this, and
I'm gonna be honest with you. You know I post
(10:24):
for some time. Has it changed since Bezos has taken over? No,
it hasn't had the same thing New York Times changed,
not really same left wing rag. I do have to
say the Wall Street Journal most certainly has changed a
lot since NewsCorp has taken it over.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
But again, I would love to get back to a.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
Day and age where again, some credibility can be brought
back to these publications.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
But again, like Bezos says, they've got a long way
to go.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
Again, you might not like the guy, whatever it may be,
got to respect that decision. Watchdog on Wall Street dot
Com
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