No, Inside the Beltway and Our Nation Don't Need The Washington Post to Make It Through (and how we are fixing ourselves by becoming nomads)

"It’s a given that Washington and the nation need the [The Washington] Post to survive." - Jack Shafer, Politico, February 11, 2024

Oh, really. Come on, the sources for information and insight have extended way beyond legacy media. 

Those seeking big megaphones, for example, head for the social-network sandboxes. That's where hedge fund major player Bill Ackman is with his findings and recommendations. Harvard had to listen, didn't it. 

Also, in-person jaw-jawing is so back. Go there and catch the ears of even a few influencers and elected government officials and you can affect the course of history or a trend in regulations. Of course, Bloomberg Law noted that Paul, Weiss chair Brad Karp knows how to comfortably be a part of those hands-in networks.  

In addition, the ability to fundraise has become a sturdy power messaging station. Open Secrets flags some of the majors in that, including large law firms Kirkland & Ellis, Akin Gump, (yes) Paul, Weiss, Sullivan & Cromwell and Covington. They don't have to give a damn if The Washington Post covers their thought leadership or not. 

Incidentally what is saving legacy The New York Times is its bundling of news and games. Not the quality of its reporting per se. 

As expected, the once hot-in-print-days Rolling Stone has failed to regain its former prominence. Here we are with its who-gives-a-damn announcement that the editor-in-chief Noah Shachtman has stepped down. A comeback for that bit of legacy media would start with a name change. (Just like supporters of ESG need to rebrand that concept).

See, no longer do we who are searching view ourselves as rolling stones. Like Fern in "Nomads" and Bob Wells hero of struggling RVers, we are nomads. And our journey is purposeful. 

Usually we have had it with this and with that. My focus of discontent was the New York Metro area. In April 2014, dog Lily of the Valley and I pulled out onto I-95 and headed west. All that was left of our previous life was packed snugly in the car. The boyfriend I had to temporarily separate from kept messaging me: Keep driving. 

We nomads are investing ourselves in moving around as experiences in which to find everything from how to survive when not a billionaire to meaning to how to handle aging. 

It does happen: That could culminate with settling down. The chatter is that the woman featured as Fern in "Nomads" did just that in southeastern Arizona. On the 10th anniversary of my liberation from traditional success I plan to put down stakes in the same region. It's cheap and loosey-goosey in values. 

Fold in among what's over is the kind of pontificating about what's "necessary." No, Jack Shafer, all eyes don't have to turn to The Washington Post. 



I got the intel on Chris Christie's political future in a cute cafe on the main drag in resort area Geneva On the Lake, Ohio. That was Ruff Life on the Lake. A genius niche move, it catered to animals, including a separate menu for them. I had finished doing Tarot readings in the area, chilled with homemade brewed coffee and cocked my ears to the conversation at the next table. Obviously those folks were wired in. They sized up things perfectly, it turned out. 

In the volatile 21st century, which started out so badly with 9/11, very quickly can an entity be over. A strategy to prevent that is to Go Nomad for a bit. Leave the supposed success formulas and oughts behind. You might look up Bob Wells in the desert. 

In most cases you have only one shot in communications. Jane Genova is a communications coach and content-creator. Complimentary consultation (please text 203-468-8579 or email janegenova374@gmail.com) 


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