With the Tribune Co. emerging from bankruptcy and offering its newspapers for sale, there has been much speculation about the impact of a sale of the holdings to the libertarian Koch brothers. The newspapers include the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and the Baltimore Sun. The Koch brothers have established a website critical of press coverage and some reporters feel the heat of Koch harassment. (National Public Radio, April 24, 2013, by David Folkenflik)
“Will some of America’s top newspapers find themselves bought by owners motivated by political ideology more than civic duty?” asks Ken Doctor for the Nieman Journalist Lab, April 25, 2013. Doctor says if the Koch brothers acquire the Tribune newspapers, it would not be for profit but to gain political access. On the other hand, if Murdock were to prevail in buying the holdings, liberals could see some relief as he did not turn the Wall Street Journal into a Fox News clone.
Others are are more sanguine about the possibility of a Koch takeover. Garance Franke-Ruta, The Atlantic, April 26, 2013, argues that since the newspapers are based in Democratic leaning cities and suburbs, they operate in areas with liberal laws and progressive attitudes that would be impossible to dent. USA Today’s Michael Wolff, April 29,. 2013 makes a similar argument that the Koch brothers will not be successful in marketing libertarian views in the urban regional centers. -db