BAD THOUGHTS (WHY LA TIMES WON'T RELEASE TAPE)

National Review The Corner ^ | October 30, 2008 | John Derbyshire

[greyfoxx39]

Bad Thoughts   [John Derbyshire]

Now here's a subversive little thought about that Khalidi tape that the Los Angeles Times is guarding like a cargo of plutonium.

• Item:  The Los Angeles Times is owned by the Tribune Co.
• Item:  The Tribune Co. is based in Chicago.
• Item:  "In 2008, Tribune is struggling under a $13 billion debt load, much of it incurred in taking the company private in 2007, and from plummeting advertising income at its newspapers." (Wikipedia. A business friend tells me the current figure is actually $14.7 billion.)
• Item:  Tribune Chairman and CEO Sam Zell is a major Republican donor. Why would he not want his paper to release the Khalidi tape?
• Item:  The federal government is sitting on a bailout fund of $700 billion.
• Item:  It's not likely the Treasury can disburse more than one or two hundred billion of that before the next administration comes in.
• Item:  The next administration will therefore have at least half a trillion greenies to hand out to anyone it deems worthy of being bailed out. Anyone — there are no hard and fast rules.
• Item:  14.7 billion is a very small proportion — less than three percent — of half a trillion.

When Sam Zell's office was called and asked about this (by a friend of mine who requests deep anonymity), they said the thought was ridiculous.

Which of course it is. Perfectly ridiculous. Utterly, impossibly ridiculous. Preposterous. Totally preposterous … (Rinse and repeat.)

Permalink

 

[Plutarch]

The left has fantasized before about 'public support' for the MSM. Not going to be discussed now during an election, but will come up during the interregnum.

The Truth -- So Long As It's Profitable ["Is publicly supported media the answer?"]

[Katya]

because while the tape may be insidious, it may not be enough to sink Obama.

[Plutarch]

Just like the Fairness Doctrine, the MSM subsidy has been talked about among the left, but kept under wraps until they can get Obama elected.

September / October 2007

The Uncle Sam Solution

Can the government help the press? Should it?

By Bree Nordenson  

This past spring, the Columbia Journalism Review convened a panel of top editors and a media investor to discuss the somewhat tiresome topic of the future of newspapers. The situation is undeniably bleak. One need merely consult Romenesko, the media-news aggregator, to witness the freefall in circulation, the unending editorial cutbacks, and the closure of foreign bureaus at so many major metropolitan papers...

...government should play a role in ensuring the future of journalism: “To the extent that the for-profit business model doesn’t provide the level of information that we think society should have, that’s what government is for, and I believe that.”

[count-your-change]

Nothing is ever what it seems on first examination. A box in a box in a box....

[rabidralph]

Stop worrying about crap and just show up and vote.

[GodGunsGuts]

Dugg!

[greyfoxx39]

Stop worrying about crap and just show up and vote.

I HAVE voted...have you?

And I don't make the news..."we report, you decide"...crap to you may be gold to someone else.

[The Californian]

AND.... who published Congressman Ryan’s divorce papers, thereby eliminating all competition for Obama to become a congressman, hmmmm????? Could it be.. NO, it can’t... Perhaps the LA Times?

Congressman Ryan IS Joe the Plumber. How did they get his divorce papers?

This is the way the mafia works. Is there still a mafia in Chicago?

[rabidralph]

Yes, I voted two weeks ago by absentee.

[an amused spectator]

There’s no question that the msm (or “approved” portions thereof) will receive a government subsidy under an 0bama presidency.

Hence, it's no longer "The Main Stream Media", but rather "The Government Media" or "The New Government Media".

My coalescing theory is that it was "The Shadow Government Media" during the Bush Administration, dedicated to undermining the actual administration at every turn.

How are they going to deny it now, after their innumerable Palin suicide runs?