The Washington Post’s Turnaround Plan

The Rebooting Show

In the wake of Jeff Bezos buying The Washington Post in 2013 and the heady “Democracy Dies in Darkness” days following the 2016 election, The Washington Post was considered a credible rival to The New York Times. That’s no longer the case. New CEO Will Lewis is embarking on a turnaround at the Post, which lost $77 million last year. As Lewis put it, “We are in a hole, and we have been for some time.” On this week’s episode, Matt Cronin, founding partner of House of Kaizen, joins to discuss the Post’s strategy as laid out by Lewis.

Skip to topic:

• 00:00 Introduction and Breaking News
• 01:00 Challenges Facing the Washington Post
• 02:20 Industry-Wide Transitions
• 03:51 Engagement and Product Strategy
• 05:49 Podcast Introduction and Format
• 06:12 Will Lewis's Turnaround Plan
• 09:29 Subscription Models and Audience Segmentation
• 22:13 Historical Context and Missed Opportunities
• 28:06 Peak Subscription Debate
• 31:47 The Paradox of Choice in Consumer Behavior
• 35:52 Volume vs. Value in Subscription Models
• 42:09 Challenges of Subscription Tiers
• 46:40 B2B Opportunities for News Organizations
• 51:59 Microtransactions in Media