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Monday, April 22, 2013

Koch brothers to buy US newspapers?

A political agenda?



Billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch were behind the formation of the Americans for Prosperity political action group, which supports many causes backed by ultra-conservative Tea Party groups, although they are not formally affiliated.

Now they are weighing a bid to buy several top US newspapers, or so the New York Times has reported.

Koch Industries, a company owned by the brothers, is mulling the purchase of several regional newspapers owned by the struggling Tribune Company, including the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Baltimore Sun, the Orlando Sentinel and the Hartford Courant, according to the Times.

If the sale goes through, it would be among the largest sales of newspapers by circulation in the country.

The Tribune Company — a $7 billion media conglomerate that also owns 23 television stations — has struggled in recent years and is selling off its print properties after emerging from bankruptcy late last year.

The Los Angeles Times (which Murdoch is also considering buying) is the fourth-largest paper in the United States by circulation, while the Chicago Tribune is ninth. The deal with the Koch brothers could also include Hoy, the second-largest Spanish-language daily newspaper, The Times wrote.





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