Here's Why the Koch Brothers Would Buy the LA Times and Chicago Tribune

[Coyotl]

Here's Why the Koch Brothers Would Buy the LA Times and Chicago Tribune
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/04/koch-brothers-newspaper-los-angeles-times-chicago-tribune

Not long after the November elections, I met with Charles Spies, a big-time Republican fundraiser who'd run the pro-Mitt Romney super-PAC Restore Our Future, to hear his take on why Romney lost. We sat across from each other at a long wooden table in a tenth-floor conference room overlooking Pennsylvania Avenue. (Before his firm moved in, Spies says the conference room used to be Al Gore's office.) We talked about super-PACs and the hundreds of millions they spent, the clout (or not) of wealthy donors and how they could get the most bang for their buck in a political campaign. Then, unprompted, Spies told me, "If I had the resources and wanted to impact the policy debate, I'd buy a newspaper or a magazine."

"Even in today's media climate?" I asked.

"Oh, absolutely." He explained:

Not to make money. They're not profitable. But imagine if I was, you know, a mogul that had 30, 40 million dollars to spend and cared about policy issues and elections. I'd buy the New York Times or the LA Times. Buy a major newspaper and put my people in on the editorial page and use that to frame issues the way I wanted to. And then I could claim that the news folks were separate from the editorial page but I think they know where the owner's heart is at.

Spies is not a friend of Charles and David Koch, the billionaire libertarians. He does not move in their political circles. But in our conversation, he laid out what may be the best reason why the Kochs and their company are reportedly considering a move to become America's newest newspaper barons.

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[madrchsod]

1. no one pays any attention to the tribune`s endorsements

well maybe people who are over 65 and do not have internet access. the tribune no longer controls chicago or the state. the paper`s page and advertisement page counts are down. the internet version charges for content. let them buy the paper no one gives a crap about. if they were smart they`d buy the shaw group who owns most of the papers in the collar cities that are prime republican strongholds.

[Fire Walk With Me]

2. Incredible that people here aren't screaming in absolute fury. n/t

[Initech]

3. Oh I have been very vocal about this.

If those slimy billionaire criminals get their hands on Tribune Corp. we can kiss freedom of the press goodbye.

[Fire Walk With Me]

5. Please keep screaming about it. n/t

[madokie]

4. The koch sucker brothers bought one of the local paper plants here

a few years back and promptly shut it down so they could get it out from under the pensions of the many retirees there. The paper plant I'm talking about had just finished installing a new state of the art paper making machine that cost more that 5 million bucks too. They keep a skeleton crew there to protect their investment so I suspect it to open again under new management and without the union. Bad people the koch sucker brothers are.

[KharmaTrain]

6. Good...Let Them Waste Their Money...

...unless buying them to canibalized what few assets they have left, buying a newspaper today is like buying a blacksmith shop a century ago. The previous owner, Sam Zell, lost a fortune on those papers and he had a whole bunch of TV properties to offset the losses the Kochroaches won't have.

If they think papers have any political influence anymore, they also need to get their asses out of the 1950s. Charles Foster Kane/William Randolph Hearst these dudes aren't. But if it keeps their money tied up from spending it on buying elections, I'm all for it!