Rick Edmonds
May 20, 2013
6:56 am
I’m not a fan of speculating who will buy newspapers that are on the block. But I’ll make an exception with some quick thoughts on Tribune Co.’s publishing group — currently attracting investor interest as expected but likely months away … Read more
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Joshua Gillin
May 16, 2013
3:21 pm
Indiegogo.com
While
concerns among some journalists mount concerning interest from Rupert Murdoch and the Koch Brothers over the sale of the Tribune Co., activist group
The Other 98% proposes a different kind of community journalism. They've begun a campaign on Indiegogo.com called Free The Press, which
aims to raise $660 million to "democratize the Tribune Company."
"The only people who are bidding on it right now are infamous right-wing Billionaires, who are likely to pay something around a $660 Million pricetag to control a big slice of trusted news media," the campaign reads. "Instead of sitting back an allowing whichever victor to manipulate us through the media, we've decided to stage an intervention. And we want you to join us."
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Andrew Beaujon
May 16, 2013
11:11 am
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Andrew Beaujon
May 15, 2013
11:30 am
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Andrew Beaujon
May 10, 2013
8:56 am
It's a wonderful compliment for Tribune Co.'s newspapers that so many people are worried about
what might happen to them under the ownership of Charles and David Koch, the libertarian billionaires said to be considering a bid for the outlets.
In California, unions and legislators have expressed concern about such a sale, the former implying they may withdraw funds invested with Oaktree Capital Management, Tribune's largest shareholder, if the Kochs get the papers. And the Courage Campaign has bought ads in the Tribune-owned Los Angeles Times asking readers to cancel their subscriptions if the Kochs pocket the paper.
But threatening newspaper publishers with canceled subscriptions is probably not the most effective way to get their attention. The average Sunday print circulation of the Los Angeles Times, for example, has dropped 9 percent in the past year, according to figures from the Alliance for Audited Media. ("Digital memberships" at Tribune properties are
reportedly going very well.)
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Andrew Beaujon
May 9, 2013
9:24 am
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Andrew Beaujon
May 8, 2013
1:36 pm
At a
protest in Chicago Wednesday, demonstrators expressed dismay about the possibility of David and Charles Koch buying Tribune's newspapers. It's kind of hard to tell from tweets how many people are outside Tribune Tower. StandUp Chicago says it's
"dozens," while Keith Phipps says the protest is "
small but vocal."
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Andrew Beaujon
Apr. 30, 2013
11:59 am
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Andrew Beaujon
Apr. 26, 2013
10:11 am
The Washington Post |
LA Observed |
NPR
Tribune Co. employees bruised by years of callous ownership have a "
golden opportunity to turn the tables on their tormenters and exact some revenge," Steve Pearlstein writes.
At its heart, any news organization is only as good as the journalists who put it out. Without the journalism, there are no readers, and without the readers there are no advertisers and subscription fees. It all starts with the news and opinions and graphics and photographs that journalists produce. And if those journalists decide collectively to walk out the door one day, the readers and advertisers are almost certain to follow.
Collective action would "lob a stink bomb" into a Tribune sale, Pearlstein writes.
Pearlstein "
obviously has never heard about Sunday ad inserts that, sad to say, are the main reason many people buy the paper," Mark Lacter says.
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Apr. 24, 2013
12:02 pm
If Koch brothers purchased Tribune, what would it mean for current Los Angeles Times staffers?
In their very-brief no-comment on the sale rumors, the Kochs took care to note, “We respect the independence of the journalist institutions” owned by Tribune, but the staffs at those papers fear that, once Kochified, the papers would quickly turn into print versions of Fox News. A recent informal poll that one L.A. Times writer conducted of his colleagues showed that almost all planned to exit if the Kochs took control (and that included sportswriters and arts writers). Those who stayed would have to grapple with how to cover politics and elections in which their paper’s owners played a leading role. It’s also unclear who in Los Angeles, one of the nation’s most liberal cities, would actually want to read such a paper, but then the Kochs don’t appear to view this as a money-making venture.
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Harold Meyerson, The Washington Post
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