An online petition is seeking signatures from people who do not want to see the Los Angeles Times fall into the hands of right-wing lunatics.
That might not be the exact language of the CourageCampaign.org pitch, but it's pretty dang close as chatter has emerged the Koch Brothers of oil money and election buying fame have apparently expressed an interest in scooping up the old print warhorse.
Who knew we could ever be longing for Rupert Murdoch as an alternative owner?
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So far, more than 11,000 have signed toward a goal of collecting the John (and Juan) Hancocks of Californians who do not want to see David and Charles Koch “or any other political propagandists” gain control of the state's largest daily.
Hollywood Reporter and our sistah paper LA Weekly reported March 12 that the Kochs want to buy the Times from the bleeding Tribune Co. to, the words of CourageCampaign.org “further their radical right-wing agenda and move fringe Tea Party ideas into the mainstream.”
The Times no longer has a larger reporting presence in Orange County–ah, the glory days of their circulation war with the Register–but it does still have a plant and press in Costa Mesa.
“The Koch Brothers are the worst of the worst. Oil and gas billionaires, they're known for funding the Tea Party, buying elections, funding anti-science organizations, union busting, dodging taxes, and twisting democracy any way they can to promote their personal agenda,” says Gabe Smalley, “Rapid Response Organizer” for CourageCampaign.org. “They cannot be allowed to purchase one of the most respected newspapers in the country in the second biggest media market in order to peddle their discredited ideas and right wing propaganda.
“Millions of Angelenos count on the Los Angeles Times for real facts, real issues, and unbiased information. The LA Times endorsements in local and statewide elections carry substantial clout. The Koch brothers cannot be allowed to control this vital source of information. The owners must know that this can't just be about money, the LA Times is too important to the community and the region.”
Jeez, Gabe, tell us how you really feel. He will, or actually the campaign will, here:
https://couragecampaign.actionkit.com/donate/latimesad
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OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.