A meeting of The Washington Post employees was held on 5 August, 2013. Into the crowded hall entered the chairman Donald E. Graham, and his niece and publisher Katherine Weymouth. The air was thick. The newspaper was to get a new boss! Jeffrey P. Bezos of Amazon.com would buy the daily for $ 250 million in cash.
Both the uncle and the niece took turns in telling the news and answering their questions. Many of the audiences wept because they were unable to accept the news. “The rise of Internet and the change from print to digital technology have created a huge wave of competition for traditional news companies,” said Donald E. Graham.
In 2013, after struggling with the falling revenue(收益) for years, The New York Times(The NYT) sold its The Boston Globe newspaper for $70 million. The NYT bought the paper in 1993 for $1.1 billion. Just twenty years later, the company sold it for a cheaper price.
Nowadays, things seem to be worse than ever. Newspapers are reporting negative growth across US and Europe. Francis Gurry, the 4th Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization said that newspapers would disappear by 2040.
This may cause a lot of problems for media jobs. For example, layoffs(裁员) and salary cuts are very common now. Many of the journalists have already moved to different jobs where their writing and editing skills are of no use. A large number of former journalists work as marketing executives, or property developers. In Canada last year, Sun Media, the largest newspaper chain there, stopped its eight dailies, closing 360 jobs and slashing 500 positions.
The traditional media still send people out to collect stories. However, with the mobile phones today, everybody is a reporter. Therefore, the newspapers are forced to adapt in order to survive. That may be a revolution(革命), but at the cost of newspapers.
31. Why did Donald E. Graham decide to sell
The Washington Post?
A.He really needed money. | B.He had trouble in governing it. |
C.The company planned to do something else. | D.The company was at a disadvantage in competition. |
32. What was Francis Gurry’s attitude towards the future of newspapers?
A.Confident. | B.Negative. | C.Uninterested. | D.Curious. |
33. What does the underlined word “slashing” in the last but one paragraph mean?
A.Creating. | B.Requiring. | C.Cutting. | D.Changing. |