This evening I participated in a HuffPost Live discussion with the even-handed title of "Koch Brothers Plan for Media Takeover" (subhed: "MEDIA MONOPOLIES"). It concerned the reported interest of Charles and David Koch (the latter of whom is a trustee of the Reason Foundation) in buying the Tribune Company's eight newspapers, a portfolio headed up by my ex-employer, the L.A. Times.
Hosted by former RT personality Alyona Minkovski, the panel was filled with people who have been advancing this particular story: Hillel Aron, who broke the news of possible Koch interest for the LA Weekly; Kathleen Miles, who reported yesterday in The Huffington Post on a recent gathering of LAT newsroom types at which half or so of the audience raised their hands when asked if they would quit after a Koch purchase; and Daniel Fisher, who published a shrewd analysis of the Kochs' potential interest over at Forbes.
Here is the full segment:
Some related past writing from me:
* "When Losers Write History: Why legacy-newspaper media reporters get their own industry so wrong"
* "Newspaper Daze" (book review of James O'Shea's The Deal From Hell: How Moguls and Wall Street Plundered Great American Newspapers)
* "Free Sam Zell! Why media activists should be mocked for trying to block the buying and selling of newspapers and television stations."
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