Brooklyn-born Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is one of my heroes in the political world, where giants are few and far between.
His December 2010 eight-hour 27-minute filibuster against president Obama’s cave-in on extension of the Bush tax cuts ranks as one of the Senate’s finest moments.
That said, Sanders is laying an egg in opposing the sale of the Tribune Co.'s newspaper group (Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Hartford Courant, Baltimore Sun and a collection of weeklies) based on purely political grounds. [At least, opposition to Rupert Murdoch’s play for the LA Times is centered on still-existing cross-ownership rules.]
Since when is a political litmus test required for a potential owner of a newspaper? Sanders raps the Koch Brothers, which control major energy holdings, for spreading misinformation about global warming, which he calls a growing crisis for our planet.
Bernie’s right. But that doesn’t preclude the Koch Brothers, Fox News or any media outlet from peddling such nonsense.
Truth ultimately prevails. If a Koch media empire continued to wholeheartedly endorse the view of a handful of climate skeptics, it would descend into the official organ of the black helicopter crowd.
It’s doubtful the good people of Los Angeles, Chicago or Baltimore would support such drivel? There’s a broad range of “real world” print/online/social media options to the Koch papers.
Tribune Co, which is trying to right itself as a TV-based media combine following the chaos of Sam Zell, has an obligation to get the best financial return on its investment in newspapers.
If the right-wing Koch Brothers offer the best deal, so be it. If somebody like left-wing lion George Soros emerges as a potential buyer, so be it. All is fair in newspaper ownership.
Trump Media & Technology Group today reported a $58.2M net loss on $4.1M in 2023 revenues, a disclosure that drove its stock price down 22.6 percent to $47.96.
Barry Pollack, an attorney at Wall Street’s Harris St. Laurent & Wechsler, has registered Julian Assange as a client with the Justice Dept. “out of an abundance of caution.”
Paramount Global to slash 800 jobs in what chief executive Bob Bakish calls part of an effort to “return the company to earnings growth"... Rolling Stone editor-in-chief Noah Shachtman is exiting at the end of the month due to disagreements with chief executive Gus Wenner over the direction the magazine is taking... The New York Times broke the $1 billion barrier in annual revenue from digital subscriptions in 2023... Press Forward is investing more than $500 million to strengthen local newsrooms.
The majority of news articles are read within the first three days of publication, according to a recent report.
The Los Angeles Times gives pink slips to 115 people or 20 percent of its newsroom staff... TIME is also laying off about 30 employees, which is approximately 15 percent of its editorial staff... The Baltimore Banner, which was launched by Stewart Bainum in 2022 after he failed to buy the Baltimore Sun, added 500 subscribers per day in the three days following Sinclair Broadcast Group's deal to purchase the Sun.
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