- Okay as far as it goes, but I’d like to be a little more clear about why the Koch family isn’t really cut out to be a publisher of American newspapers. It isn’t that they are rightist libertarians and I am not, honestly. As I said in my remarks, but which do not convey fully in the edited clip, I’d be as distressed if Ariana Huffington or George Soros wanted to purchase and operate The Sun. Why? Because 1) they are engaged in ideological advocacy and 2) they aren’t from Baltimore and their ties to my community are insufficient to guarantee a responsive and locally committed newsgathering organization.
This is a good piece and not really about the Koch brothers at all. My local paper is owned by a New York company. Over the years it has become a hollowed out piece of shit. After many rounds of layoffs the only good journalism is the sports page (and the living section, but I don't think any real journalism happens there). I don't blame the journalist, I'm sure they are spread pretty thin but I hardly ever read an interesting article without walking away with a several questions that a reporter who didn't have three beats and a fierce deadline wouldn't have answered. It's thin on investigation. The two competing weeklies pick up a lot of the journalistic slack but they are only weeklies, there is only so much news they are going to cover.
It sucks that journalism has to compete and be marketable even if that means that really isn't a viable option for the type of coverage they're doing. Even when looking at some "edger" media like Vice that have interesting stories, but till have to compete for a demographic that dictates them. I wish we could have more NPR and PBS esq. local journalism that was independent enough as a nonprofit, but because they do get some money from the government they can stay afloat in the current climate without having to sacrifice quality.
Yeah, it's an interesting problem to solve and someone really should do it. In fact, I am more and more convinced that the aggregators of the world will end up being the true arbiters of what is and what is not biased. NPR is a fantastic service IMO. However, it takes money from organizations and citizens alike. As you mentioned, it also takes tax dollars. It's the tax dollars that keep it "honest", or at least that is how it is supposed to work. What I find is that media such as NPR is forced to present fringe ideas such as the thought that Global Warming isn't occurring as "main stream" because it takes federal dollars and has to appease the portion of the electorate that is... well... crazy. How do we fix this? We have private news stations that are dependent on ad revenue and market share. These stations: CNN, MSNBC, FOX and the like compete for your time and attention. Unfortunately, negativity and sensationalism is what wins that attention. So a market driven news source is out. -Total piece of shit. We all know it. How do we fix this? What is the solution? Obviously, money needs to be out of the equation. I think a media source funded 50% by Soros and 50% by the Koch brothers would be awesome and compelling. No joke.
I think the structure of of NPR and PBS are pretty decent. Because they're not totally funded by the federal government and not completely funded by their own donor base. We get the best of both worlds. High quality news and no ads.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a big NPR fan. I literally answer phones for them during pledge drives. But, I think if someone like an Elon Musk or Bill Gates started a news organization that focused strictly on data and providing information without editorializing. Or if they did have subjectivity in there, they genuinely showed both sides arguments, I'd check that out. That would be worth supporting somehow.
Ohhh, evil Koch brothers. Warren Buffet has just as radical a political agenda, but the MSM agrees with (most) of it, so who cares. And not to sound all Blaze-y, but of course Soros has plunged 2XKoch$ into American politics of the left for a decade or more and gets no mention. -XC
I don't disagree with anything you write here, though I don't complain much about it because I tend to agree more with Buffet than I would the Koch's. I should complain about it, it's not cool that any of them should hold as much sway as they do.