Other corporate titans, from Disney to Nike to Walmart, have received greater scrutiny as they've became larger and more dominant in the marketplace. Amazon now appears to be facing similar questions and critics. The surprise, at least to some, is that the company just isn't offering much of a response.
The Seattle Times recently completed a comprehensive four-part series covering Amazon's apparently poor record on local philanthropy, its aggressive pricing war with book publishers, its state-by-state battle over taxes and sweaty working conditions in its warehouses. The investigation largely followed up on known charges heard over the last year. Amazon offered little cooperation with the piece.
But the local online reaction was loudly negative to the piece, which some, in hindsight, said shouldn't have been surprising given the large number of Seattle citizens now employed by Amazon.
The uproar prompted Times executive editor David Boardman to defend the series in a column last weekend. With the aid of hundreds of interviews, "we were able to shed light on largely hidden aspects of a company that is as secretive as it is successful," he wrote.
He added that as one of the city's largest employers, "It seemed not only natural, but imperative, that The Seattle Times, as the major journalistic entity in Amazon's hometown, would examine the company's practices as a corporate citizen."
Those in favor of the series said Amazon should be held accountable and faulted its lack of support for Seattle's community.
The Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times found the lack of cooperation with the piece from Amazon as particularly noteworthy. Both claimed it followed a "low-profile" pattern seen by Amazon over the years given the limited access it offers to media and how it often skimps on financial details. That includes offering vague details around Kindle sales compared to full-disclosure of iPad sales by Apple.
Describing Amazon as "more like King Kong in the jungle, a powerful, largely invisible and vaguely threatening presence," the AP also pointed to the fact that no Amazon logos can be found on their many local buildings in Seattle. The fact that Amazon's new headquarters broke ground in 2009 with the mayor and governor in attendance but no Amazon executives was seen as one of many examples of Amazon's secretive nature.
In response to the Times article, Amazon only offered a brief statement, "At Amazon, if we do our job right, our greatest contribution to the good of society will come from our core business activities: lowering prices, expanding selection, driving convenience, driving frustration-free packaging, creating Kindle, innovating in web services, and other initiatives we'll work hard on in the future."
- Behind the Amazon.com smile: About this series - The Seattle Times
- Amazon series draws torrent of negative reaction online - The Seattle Times
- Amazon exposed: The book behemoth is scrutinized - Los Angeles Times
- Amazon.com: Is Internet giant sleeping in Seattle? - Los Angeles Times
- Amazon offers to serve as tax collector -- for a price - Los Angeles Times
- Amazon workers left out in the cold - The Morning Call