News worthy

Watch out newspapers, Amazon is coming to get you. 

No doubt that thought kept a few editors awake Monday night, albeit that it's factually inaccurate since it was Jeff Bezos (in his personal capacity) that snuck in and bought the Washington Post to almost everyone's surprise. BuzzFeed – the much admired/bitched about online competitor of traditional news sites – dismisses the move as "old news": just another mogul trying to buy power through media.

But it would be foolish to ignore that Bezos brings with him an Internet sensibility. He said as much in his open letter to the employees of the newly acquired paper: "The Internet is transforming almost every element of the news business. We will need to invent, which means we will need to experiment. Our touchstone will be readers, understanding what they care about and working backwards from there."

Under his leadership, Amazon has become a threatening competitor to book publishers. Not only does it undercut prices, nail distribution and sell devices, it's now building a suite of manuscript editors to bolster its direct publishing arm – bringing together old school talent with online might. 

So, what does the Bezos takeover mean for newspapers? 

It means established news groups can't afford to look back. It's another kick (if one was needed) to realize the time for action is now:

• Think Big – take your incredible, highly credible brands to the next level, exploring how they can evolve and reach audiences in new ways using the digital tools at your fingertips

• Listen & Learn – audiences are notoriously loyal to news brands but time is increasingly split across myriad new platforms and sites; papers need to understand why and what they can do better to serve changing behaviors 

• Shake up – reinvention can be tough to do in an environment where the editor's word is law; how does organizational structure and culture need to adapt to allow innovation to flourish?

Amy Lee is a Senior Strategist at Wolff Olins New York.