I was most struck by two paragraphs:

The papers, valued at roughly $623 million, would be a financially diminutive deal for Koch Industries, the energy and manufacturing conglomerate based in Wichita, Kan., with annual revenue of about $115 billion.

“A running joke among conservatives as we watched the G.O.P. establishment spend $500 million on ineffectual TV ads is ‘Why don’t you just buy NBC?’ ” Mr. Motley said. “It’s good the Kochs are talking about fighting fire with a little fire.”

I find this pretty disturbing. In the 1800s, the major political parties would bankroll newspapers to act as their mouthpieces. With the cost of politics rising and the cost of media companies falling, that seems suddenly possible again, perhaps even inevitable.

For all the complaints about Murdoch, he's primarily a businessman. He acquires media companies to make money. If Fox News had tanked, he would have dumped it.

But these guys aren't in it for the money. It seems like they view the acquisitions as political donations--that they do not mind and perhaps even expect to lose money.

Ahem. Yeah, there is something I need to talk to you about. Don't worry, the new editorial staff promises to be gentle.

Liberal leaning cities, yes, but some of the states swing. Florida certainly and Illinois and Maryland sometimes.

But I suspect that their strategy is broader than vote-getting. The acquisition is likely part of a comprehensive media strategy to promote their right-wing ideas in mainstream news sources. These papers have national credibility.