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a cartoonist at the Washington Post has
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quit after a cartoon depicting uh
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billionaires including Jeff bezos's
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kneeling before president-elect Donald
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Trump was blocked from publication and
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uh telas I think that's how you
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pronounce it uh published a sketch of
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the cartoon uh on sub substack saying it
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was the first time her work had been
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rejected because of who it depicted uh
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she's a peer priz winner by the way
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amazing Cartoonist the Washington Post
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editorial page editor David Shipley said
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the cartoon was rejected because of its
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similarity to Columns of the paper
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rather than his subject although he
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managed to publish many similar columns
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over and over again this is It's
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nonsense what David Shipley said and now
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I can say it very explicitly because
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Amanda quit the Washington Post uh he is
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really this this was nonsense what he
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was his excuse um in other related news
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uh Amazon has announced that it will
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release a behind the scenes documentary
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on Melania Trump by Brett Ratner who was
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sucked up into the me too stuff rather
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egregiously he seems to be a really um
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problematic person uh and
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and there's the New York Times did some
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really astonishing coverage on his
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behavior uh so that was nice um I what
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do you think Scott you want to buy the
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Washington Post with me this is such
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peacocking first off I didn't invite you
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if I'm going to spend a lot of money to
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be put in pain uh he or she better be
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wearing leather and be hot I
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just what are you do I anyways no I'm
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not crazy I I that is literally all
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right I I think I told you one I had an
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experience I'm waiting to hear your
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feedback I I've
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raised back in the Heyday of hedge funds
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I convinced a hedge fund manager to give
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me $600 million to become the largest uh
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shareholder in the New York Times and I
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learned a decent amount about newsrooms
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and the collision between shareholder
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governance and journalism and newsrooms
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and I quickly learned or I've got a very
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expensive lesson these are important
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institutions I even wonder at some point
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if they should have some sort of tax
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benefit because I think they do a really
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important they do really important work
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I agree but at the end of the day these
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are institutions that should be owned by
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trusts and they should have a trust that
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basically hires the right guy or gal to
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run the thing and they just say the [ __ ]
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out of it maybe I have that idea maybe
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I'm not doing it your way go well I know
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but what I would argue so just just to
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bring the viewers up just to bring the
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listeners up there's been a lot of
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rumors that you're assembling a group to
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make a bid for the Washington Post and
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what I haven't heard is that Jeff Bezos
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is willing to sell it correct and so all
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of this in my view and I you know and is
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a I don't know sort of all chip no Sals
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doesn't matter yeah so we can we or when
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I say we I mean you complain about the
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post and the ownership and but if you
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and I told you this on the phone the
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other night if you were serious about
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doing this you would have had offline
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conversations with Bezos and said can I
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put together a group that includes you
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and gives you some shark repellent and
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inoculates you from this un this this
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[ __ ] and grief which you are
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probably not enjoying right right now
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and gives you plausible deniability
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where you can say oh it's up to the it's
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kind of like what you I think if you
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were serious get you have to get Jeff on
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board and correct and then this is what
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I'm attempting to do try and get um
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again you're not asking if I'm
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attempting to do this well right and but
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the way you would do this Cara is
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quietly I think you're wrong you're not
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going to shame this guy into selling the
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I'm not shaming him I actually have
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praised his ownership until recently I
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have been very much appraising his
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ownership until recently I think it's
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much more complex I don't think that's
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what I'm doing I think there's ways to
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do things and calling attention to it
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and bringing it to the conversation
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right there's a lot more people than me
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looking at this by the way FYI is that
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right and I think the only yes and the
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only way and I'm meeting with everybody
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this is what this is how I'm approaching
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it I'm a reporter I was an excellent
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reporter I certainly was I think you
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still are an excellent reporter I am
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much more so than the guy who's the CEO
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of the company by the way by by a far
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and you are going to get this thing
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[ __ ]
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theur I I I think he fine whatever it
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doesn't matter it's not [ __ ] I'm
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telling I'm saying what I think that was
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the definition of [ __ ] wasn't well I
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am a better reporter I'm sorry it's a
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factual thing okay um so um I think the
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way to do it is start the conversation
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and get it going rather than these I am
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so sick of these quiet little deals that
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largely white men make other you mean
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deals that get done they don't they get
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get done because it's so I'm doing it a
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different way I'm doing it a different
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way I don't think that you have to like
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you know how you talk about try to do
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things differently try to think of new
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ways to do things that's what I'm doing
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I'm talking to everybody like everybody
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and you'd be surprised who I'm talking
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to by the way someone who was doubtful I
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had a long long conversation with a
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billionaire who was doubtful had a long
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long conversation last night suddenly
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he's very engaged in the idea because he
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started to listen to the various ideas I
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think it's okay what else did Mark Cuban
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say
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no no that's not what I'm talking about
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so um but he would be he would be great
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someone like that I welcome his his
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input because I think he's really smart
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I welcome the feedback of negativity
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that you are displaying that's fine
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that's great um I think it's good to
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talk to everyone and understand what the
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various possibilities would be and one
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of the things that I think doing this
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thing and then we'll we'll end this is
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why not just talk about it explicitly if
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I ran this thing everything would be
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transparent I would broadcast you know
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how you know you have all these media
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reporters like feeders talking about
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what happened at a meeting I broadcast
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the [ __ ] meeting what's the what's
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the secret here it's losing money here's
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how much money we're losing here's why
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here's what we invested in like I think
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one of the reasons pivot successful is
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because we're very transparent about
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what we're up to most of the time we
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really are and we say when we make
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mistakes I would make it public I'd make
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it a narrative I would come up with L
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lots of ideas and I agree with you it's
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not a money-making you do an HBO series
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like to survive or Behind the Music or
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those things where they go they they
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depict a season of a team out Survivor
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yeah you just make it's a great story
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and at the heart of I think you think
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those people in that institution is more
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interesting than it is I think you find
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it fascinating and a small group of bway
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people in calorama find it interesting
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and most of them find that the reporters
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in The Newsroom are amazing at reporting
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and they brighten up a room by leaving
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it I just don't think it's that dramatic
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a story I think it's a great story I
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think it's a it's got it it's it has it
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whole The Washington Post has a
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particular hold on this country in a way
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that's really wonderful in many ways by
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the way you don't think Ben Bradley was
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interesting that was so fantastic he was
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such a fantastic Katherine Graham I have
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all kinds of ideas to make it
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interesting and it is actually
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inherently interesting and the idea that
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there's one newspaper the New York time
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and also you could do all kinds of
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things with papers around the just like
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what's the fresh idea here is all I'm
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going for is let I'm open to the fresh
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idea of how you could save this
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institution in a way that is really
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interesting and it doesn't you don't
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have to have a foregone conclusion of
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every single thing I agree it's easier
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to start it from scratch it's easier to
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do it by yourself it's easier to do it
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very lightweight you run all over the
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country without a lot of things but this
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is a PE particular and peculiar
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institution I think is important and I
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obviously have an emotional connection
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to it because I started there in The
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Newsroom I haven't but there really is
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something about there cannot just be the
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New York times and by the way
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something's going to happen with the
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Wall Street Journal when rert goes who
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knows what goes on with that institution
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right um and then over in the west coast
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you got Looney Tunes the guy who's
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running that guy who seems to have he
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started off a liberal now he's a Trumper
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it's like and he's got like he doesn't
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know what he yeah but you're you're
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defining media by the fact that it's
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printed on dead trees you're defining
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media listen there's a lot of
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competition there's a lot of other I I
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told Don Graham when I left why are you
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even printing it this was back in the
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'90s I was like I don't even understand
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why you print it I don't I don't
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actually I still don't so I'm just
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saying I think this is interesting I
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find it to be like it's a it's an
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interesting puzzle to Caris swisher and
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I I and I have a million other things
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I'm doing that are much more lucrative
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much more promising enjoy just be you're
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so good you're leaning just be a
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billionaire just be a wealthy lesbian
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buy like a buy like a roller derby team
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or something just do something I want to
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do breath work I want this is my breath
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work like Bezos gets it you don't he's
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on a [ __ ] yacht with a with a woman
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in a in a g string in St Barts and
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you're talking about all this pain
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self-inflicted pain you're about to go
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into a dentist office and say hold off
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on the Novae have you been I mean you've
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been in newsrooms I'll give you that
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areow I've been in all of them I can't
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believe you would subject yourself to
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that [ __ ] I think it's a new way I
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think there's a new let me just tell you
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this is my breath work and I'm going to
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[ __ ] do it you you literally hired
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someone to teach you to breathe today
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and you're giving me a hard time about
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something that is actually slightly
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Noble even and that's not why I'm doing
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it I think it's fun I actually anyway
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we'll see what happens but I predict in
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2025 I will meet with J my name isn't
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Caris swier okay I wouldn't I wouldn't
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put it past you I wouldn't put it I'm
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doing it he's going to do it and you
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know what he's going to like it
