In a national day of action, hundreds are expected to rally against efforts by conservative businessmen David and Charles Koch to acquire eight Tribune Company newspapers at a cost of $600 million. Rallies organized by the Free Press, an organization committed to public media, will take place outside Tribune offices in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and 11 other cities.
LA Weekly first reported in March that the Koch brothers were interested in purchasing the Tribune newspapers. Originally, the Los Angeles Times was the only paper up for sale, but the owner of the Tribune Company newspapers later announced that he wants to sell the entire media conglomerate.
The purchase price would be no heavy lift for the Kochs, who are tied for the sixth-richest men in the world with a net worth of $34 billion each.
The Center for American Progress reported in 2011 that the Koch brothers have given $85 million to 85 right-wing think tanks and advocacy groups over the past decade and a half. They have also spent $5.2 million to support candidates and ballot measures in 34 states since 2003.
The attempted newspaper acquisition sparked concern among journalists and free speech groups worried that the Kochs, with a history of contributing millions to conservative political causes, would use the papers as a mouthpiece to further their own political agendas and impose undue bias on the media.
“The Koch brothers have a high profile politically. Our concern is that they have indicated in published reports that they are interested in acquiring these papers in part to further their political agenda. We believe in a free media that doesn’t become a propaganda arm,” said Dale Eisman, a writer and researcher for the nonprofit advocacy organization Common Cause, to Mint Press News.
Roughly half of the writers at the Los Angeles Times said that they would quit their jobs if the Koch brothers went through with the purchase. At a Los Angeles Times in-house awards ceremony last week, columnist Steve Lopez polled the crowd.
“Raise your hand if you would quit if the paper was bought by the Koch brothers,” Lopez said, prompting about half the crowd to raise their hands according The Huffington Post.
“Journalists have a role to play in holding power accountable. We’re concerned that acquisition by the Kochs would get in the way of mission,” Eisman said.
“Newspapers are best if they are locally owned, providing independent news coverage. [The Koch brothers] don’t have a background in journalism. We would be concerned with anybody who had a strong ideological agenda on the left or the right, buying newspapers to further their political agenda,” Eisman said. “We are letting the sellers know that there is a concern about that. They ought to be looking for buyers who are committed to honest journalism.”