dagblog - Comments for "Koch Brothers Bid for Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times"

Liberal leaning cities, yes,

Michael Wolraich — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 16:56:53 +0000

In reply to I noticed these papers are in

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.

I noticed these papers are in

trkingmomoe — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:00:57 +0000

In reply to Koch Brothers Bid for Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times

I noticed these papers are in liberal leaning cities. Koch brothers can print all the crap they want but it won't change the demographic and generational change that is going on in Florida.

Can't we just sell them North

MrSmith1 — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 06:42:50 +0000

In reply to Koch Brothers Bid for Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times

Can't we just sell them North and South Dakota and let them go there and run their own little fiefdom and leave the rest of us alone? The big selling point, of course, is that it comes with Mount Rushmore, so they can carve Reagan and Cheney's faces onto it and just for laughs take off Teddy Roosevelt and replace him with the Keystone pipeline.

What else can they buy? Do

Resistance — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 03:58:23 +0000

In reply to I'm surprised they didn't

What else can they buy? Do the Koch brothers endorse gun buyback programs?

Ahem. Yeah, there is

Michael Wolraich — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 02:44:54 +0000

In reply to I'm surprised they didn't

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

I'm surprised they didn't

Ramona — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:38:06 +0000

In reply to Koch Brothers Bid for Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times

I'm surprised they didn't think of this before. I wonder why not? Seems like the perfect venue for their propaganda carpet-bombing.

What else can they buy before they own enough to keep us from ever fighting back? And is there no one to stop them?

I was most struck by two

Michael Wolraich — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 23:03:27 +0000

In reply to You beat me to posting it. We

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.

You beat me to posting it. We

artappraiser — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 21:59:38 +0000

In reply to Koch Brothers Bid for Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times

You beat me to posting it. We must all pray somebody else gets interested; them owning these papers would be a tragedy. And possibly even an extended nightmare as the media landscape becomes further disturbed unsettled and mroe partisan and propagandistic than it already is.