Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has been more of a help than a hindrance to the Washington Post, the newspaper Bezos bought in 2013 for $250 million, said Matthew Winkler, Co-founder and former editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News at Asian College of Journalism.

“There are examples of reporting from the post which was not favorable for Amazon,” said Winkler during a panel discussion on ‘The World’s Richest in Media Business: Issues and Implications’. He added that Bloomberg did many things to ensure that its owner Mike Bloomberg, who was running for the president of the united states, did not influence the editorial process.

In the Indian context, the convergence of the rich and media has never been as unprecedented as in modern times, said N Ram, director of The Hindu Publishing Group, who was also on the panel. He took the example of Reliance-owned Network 18’s vast media business and the Adani Group’s recent acquisition of NDTV media. He added that independent media in India could sustain, provided people support it.

Speaking about the news media business model, N Ram said that advertising which used to be highly profitable has now shrunk thereby weakening its ability to earn money. He said “the idea that good journalism can pull through is now under question…Super rich owning the established media is only a small part.”