The Koch Brothers — billionaire ultra-conservative puppet-masters and Tea Party funders — are rumored to be in talks to buy eight newspapers, including the LA Times, Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, Orlando Sentinel and Hartford Courant from the Tribune company, which is emerging from bankruptcy protection. Half of the LA Times‘s newsroom has threatened to quit if the Kochs take over.
One thing sure to happen if the Koch brothers take over the paper is a conservative agenda on the editorial page. As other newspapers have cut back on editorials and endorsements, the Times is now often the only LA news outlet that issues endorsements on political candidates and on ballot measures and initiatives. This is particularly crucial in California, where even the most educated voter is left clueless and confused — or worse, tricked — after reading the state propositions put on the ballot by Californians who simply gathered enough signatures to push a private agenda.
If the Times’ editorial page is filled with the Koch brothers’ libertarian opinions, other journalists in LA will need to step up and voice opposing views.
If Koch Brothers Buy LA Times, Half of Staff May Quit (VIDEO) [Kathleen Miles/HuffPo]
(via Reddit)
(Image: LA Times, a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike (2.0) image from 24293932@N00’s photostream)