David and Charles Koch have expressed interest in buying the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Baltimore Sun and other leading newspapers owned by the Tribune Company. The Koch brothers have also financed conservative and libertarian causes and founded an advocacy group called Americans for Prosperity, whose stated goals are to limit government, cut taxes, and eliminate regulations. Will the Koch brothers’ ownership of newspapers impact fair and objective news coverage?
The Newspaper Guild--Communication Workers of America sponsored a panel discussion on media ownership in an internet world on Wednesday, June 26, 2013, at the National Press Club. Panelists discussed newspaper ownership, independent press in the Internet age and the influence of money on press coverage.
Christopher Assaf is a video editor for the Baltimore Sun. He has worked as a photographer with The Newport Beach-Costa Mesa (Calif.) Daily Pilot, the Journal Tribune in Biddleford, Me., The Courier News (Elgin, Ill.) and as a photo editor with the now-defunct CityTalk magazine.
John Nichols is the Washington correspondent for The Nation. He is a contributing writer for The Progressive and In These Times and the associate editor of the Capital Times, the daily newspaper in Madison, Wisc. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, Chicago Tribune and dozens of other newspapers and magazines. Nichols has co-authored a number of books on media and politics, including the award-winning The Death and Life of American Journalism and Dollarocracy: How the Money and Media Election Complex is Destroying America.
Lena Williams is a retired senior writer for the New York Times and author of It’s The Little Things: The Everyday Interactions That Get Under the Skin of Whites and Blacks.
Tia Lessin, the Academy Award-nominated filmmaker, will discuss the status of her documentary Citizen Koch, which is a project that was originally meant for public television until public television, to whom David Koch is a major donor, abruptly dropped it.
Mark Lloyd is director of media policy initiative at the New America Foundation, and an affiliate professor of public policy at Georgetown University. He served as Associate General Counsel/Chief Diversity Officer at the Federal Communications Commission. Prior to his work as a lawyer, Lloyd was a broadcast journalist at both public and commercial operations, including NBC and CNN. He is the author of Prologue to a Farce, Communication and Democracy in America.
Right-wing, extremist billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch have ended their pursuit of the Los Angeles Times and other Tribune Co. newspapers after months of protests by community groups, journalists and other free press advocates.
