Newspapers, Washington Post | featured news

The Washington Post confirmed its intention to start charging for access to its website, making it one of the last major American newspapers to do so.

The Washington Post Co. reported a fourth quarter 2012 loss of $45.4 million, or $6.57 a share as it took $113 million of charges for goodwill write downs and restructuring, mostly in its Kaplan education subsidiary. A year earlier the company earned $61.7 million or $8.03 a share

Has technology made us all plagiarists? The Internet and Google have enabled every reporter, blogger and columnist to have what amounts to a million encyclopedias at their fingertips. We can search for material on virtually any subject and download a cornucopia of information in seconds to inform us before we begin using more traditional reporting tools.

Marcus Brauchli, hired in 2008 after working at The Wall Street Journal, is stepping down as editor and will be replaced by Martin Baron of The Boston Globe.

Washington Post posted a profit as the company recorded fewer restructuring charges, although revenue was flat as its education division continued to struggle.

“People use different media for different purposes.” First they go to television and news sites like The Post and the New York Times for information. “Then they go to the talk shows for their polarization.”

Online ad revenues rose 8 percent at the news division in the second quarter compared with the same period last year, reversing recent declines. But the $2 million increase in online revenues covered only a small part of the $9.9 million decline in print ads.

The Washington Post is standing by its reporting on Bain Capital’s outsourcing under Mitt Romney, and will not retract a recent story despite complaints from the Romney campaign.

Washington Post Co. reported a rise in first-quarter earnings that reflected a write-down a year earlier and that masked further weakness in the company's education centers.

Will you soon have to start paying to use The Post’s Web site? No, not in the short term, and maybe never, if I read the tea leaves correctly.