The word is out that The Koch Brothers are 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 — which are collectively valued at roughly $623 million.
Tribune recently emerged from bankruptcy on December 31 2012 and hired JP Morgan Chase and Evercore Partners to sell its print properties. The New York Times was all over this story on April 20th, when the whispers of a potential bid from Koch Industries first surfaced.
Charles and David Koch’s mere interest in this acquisition has set off a frenzy from the usual suspects.
When talking about the potential purchase on her show, Rachel Maddow said, “You really can’t get away from the Koch brothers. They’re becoming way too ubiquitous. Their names pop up in every scummy scandal, one after another.” Media Matters went code red quipping, “Koch Brothers purchase would turn these papers into conservative mouthpieces.” The Daily Kos was also up in arms, forming a “stop the Koch brothers from purchasing the Los Angeles Times and other media outlets” petition.
It seems such business however, is not a two way street.
The folks from Daily Kos and the so-called Courage Campaign don’t have any problem with left-wing billionaire Warren Buffett owning 63 newspapers that he purchased in 2012. These publications include the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia, the Winston-Salem Journal in North Carolina, and the Morning News of Florence, S.C., among others. Buffet’s corporation Berkshire Hathaway has owned the Buffalo News of New York for decades and even bought Buffet’s hometown paper, the Omaha World-Herald, in December of 2012. Berkshire Hathaway is also the largest shareholder of Washington Post, with a twenty-three percent stake.
Is anybody from MSNBC, Media Matters, or the Daily Kos the least bit suspicious that Warren Buffet’s political leanings may have altered or editorialized the content of the media he’s acquired or in which he has a majority stake?
In addition, there is left-wing billionaire George Soros’s Open Society Institute bankrolling a myriad of liberal organizations, including The Center for American Progress Action Fund which in turn funds Think Progress. Surely those up in arms about the political ideology of the Koch Brothers being an automatic disqualifier from buying some newspapers would agree the same is true of those like Soros and Buffet, right? Are they worried about political ideology affecting media neutrality in general?
I strongly doubt it.
The left’s juvenile antics about the Koch Brothers potential purchase are just another example of how linear the party of “choice” is. It further illustrates their uncompromising demand to keep all media in their grasp.
While liberals look at the possible Tribune Company deal as the evil Koch Brothers plotting to spread right-wing ideology, Charles and David likely see it just as Warren Buffet did — a business decision.
It is true that Buffet has been vocal about his affinity for print media, but as a businessman he does not hold the majority one-fourth stake in the Washington Post to lose money. The same is likely to be true for the Koch Brothers.
If Koch Industries successfully acquires the Tribune Company, the gnashing of teeth by the left is going to be a spectacle to behold.
They’re all about wealthy people engaging in commerce and exercising their free speech rights by buying newspapers and contributing large sums of cash to think tanks and media outlets.
Just so long as it’s on their side.
What do you think? Would the Koch Brothers buying the Tribune Company be a good or bad idea?