Saturday, April 20, 2013

Koch Brothers Making Play for Tribune Newspapers

 NYT reports:
Three years ago, Charles and David Koch, the billionaire industrialists and supporters of libertarian causes, held a seminar of like-minded, wealthy political donors at the St. Regis Resort in Aspen, Colo. They laid out a three-pronged, 10-year strategy[...]The first two pieces of the strategy — educating grass-roots activists and influencing politics — were not surprising, given the money they have given to policy institutes and political action groups. But the third one was: media.[...] Now, Koch Industries, the sprawling private company of which Charles G. Koch serves as chairman and chief executive, is exploring a bid to buy the Tribune Company’s eight regional newspapers, including The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun, The Orlando Sentinel and The Hartford Courant. 
By early May, the Tribune Company is expected to send financial data to serious suitors in what will be among the largest sales of newspapers by circulation in the country. Koch Industries is among those interested, said several people with direct knowledge of the sale who spoke on the condition they not be named. 
There might be a financial play in owning newspapers, but if the Koch brothers actually think it is a way to influence the masses, well then I have a fog making machine in San Francisco that I would like to sell them.

If you really want to make an impact at the national level, you need to reach the masses and that means the internet. Wake me up when the brothers try to make a bid for LewRockwell.com. It's missed by many, but LRC is responsible for putting Ron Paul's presidential bid into the stratosphere. The LA Times has never come close to launching such a national figure.

1 comment:

  1. Gail wynand anyone. You would think the Koch brothers would have learned that lesson

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