'Posties' Stunned!

By now the ‘shock factor’ has probably morphed into the ‘worried factor’ as “Posties” – as they are affectionately known – move on from yesterday’s news that the Graham family owned Washington Post has been sold to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, bringing with it the end of an era.

Hollywood on the Potomac caught up with some insiders while they were still in their shock space.

Jonathan Capehart: “I got the email about a big 4:30 announcement around 4:25 in the auditorium. There was even a call-in number. Because I was about to go on air at MSNBC, I couldn’t dial in. I read the email from Katharine Weymouth around 4:45 under the NBC marquee on 49th Street and screamed, “WHAT?!”

Food for thought from foodie Tim Carmen: “I picked the wrong week to go on vacation. Personally, if the Graham family was going to sell, I can think of few owners I’d rather have than Jeff Bezos. He knows about Internet commerce, and he knows enough to say he doesn’t know much about news-gathering. He’s also retained the current editors. These are all positive signs to me.” We’re betting Carmen keeps his job.

Except from staff that were actually out of the newsroom at the time of the announcement, a lot of our emails went unanswered. Translation: Local Bars. So, we checked in with some former “posties.”