Categories: OLD Media Moves

Forbes removes column arguing Amazon take over libraries

Forbes.com has removed a column posted this weekend by an economist arguing that Amazon should take over the country’s libraries, reports Thu-Huong Ha of Quartz.

Ha writes, “On Saturday morning Forbes published an opinion piece by LIU Post economist Panos Mourdoukoutas with the headline ‘Amazon Should Replace Local Libraries to Save Taxpayers Money.’ It quickly received enthusiastic backlash from actual American libraries and their communities.

“As of around 10am US eastern time this morning, the story had nearly 200,000 views, according to a counter on the page. As of 11am, though, the story’s URL has been down.

“‘Forbes advocates spirited dialogue on a range of topics, including those that often take a contrarian view,’ a Forbes spokesperson says in a statement. ‘Libraries play an important role in our society. This article was outside of this contributor’s specific area of expertise, and has since been removed.'”

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.