The Washington Post will expand its editorial staff and budget now that the new owner, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has taken the helm, Post executive editor Marty Baron told the New York Times in a Wednesday interview.
Baron described the expansion as Bezos’ “first mark on the paper.”
The Post will hire new political reporters, photo editors, data visualization staff and Web designers. The paper will also create a breaking news desk, expand its news staff and add to the Sunday style section and magazine.
The magazine will be “bigger in dimension and in the number of pages, with a new design and a range of new features,” Baron told the Times.
Bezos has not been involved in interviewing new editorial staff members, but has helped with general strategy. He worked with staff to brainstorm new ideas for the media outlet.
The Amazon founder challenged staff “assumptions, cause us to rethink things,” Baron told the Times.
“He’s spent his entire life and his entire career thinking about where the consumer will be in the long run, and where the technology will be in the long run,” Baron said.
According to Baron, Bezos has been focused on growth for the paper.
“[He] was purchasing The Post in order to make more of it, rather than make less of it,” Baron said about Bezos. “His entire business history is oriented around growth.”
Baron said most of the growth at the Post will come on the digital side.
