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Originally Posted by fjtorres
"The paper of record", remember. They chose which presidents to cover for and which ones to vilify and bring down.
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Originally Posted by frahse
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Originally Posted by Alfy
Nothing much, but the New York Times is turning into a bona fide propaganda machine
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In my opinion, it has been that way for many, many years. |
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Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8
We are hearing really only one side--Hachette's and the liberal, big-business haters in the mainstream media.
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I'm kicking myself for not having realized until a day or two ago the extent to which these anti-New York publisher threads may be motivated by politics rather than books.
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Originally Posted by DiapDealer
I really do not get how hearsay and speculation that supports the "Amazon is evil" stance is considered evidence, while evidence of BPH's illegal acts and general ineptitude is considered hearsay and speculation.
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Taking the last first, if the big book publishers are so inept, why are are they managing the digital transition so much better than newspapers and non-scholarly periodicals?
Hachette's 2013 profit was the highest, by far, they experienced in the past five years.
And industry leader Bertelsmann had its highest profits since 2006 last year -- largely due to acquisition of the
50 Shades franchise from indiedom. Think how much money that piece of stodgy ineptitude netted. Is this a reason to be on the publishers' side? Of course not. But it does indicate that their business strategies may make some sense.
Amazon may have resolved to push hard against the publishers not because they are stuck in the 20th century, but because publishers have managed the digital transition so well, at least, financially.
As for evil, I wouldn't say that about any of them. But not so nice? Yes.
Amazon and the big five are similarly absent from the best places to work lists. But Amazon is far more likely to get reviews like this:
http://gawker.com/i-do-not-know-one-...zon-1572478351