Tuesday, April 23, 2013

STOP THE KOCH BROTHERS - ACT NOW!

Dear Keith,
Notorious billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch reportedly want to buy some of America's biggest newspapers to push their extremist political agenda.
The bankrupt Tribune Company is selling its eight daily newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times. According to the New York Times1, the Kochs want to buy these media properties to expand their corporate power and to push their anti-environment, anti-labor and anti-democracy agenda.
We don't need more corporate control of our media and our politics. We need journalism that uncovers corruption — not hack writing that covers it up.
By taking action, you’re telling the Tribune Company to put these influential newspapers in the hands of someone — or, better yet, several different someones — who will promote quality journalism. That's not the Koch brothers. And it's not Rupert Murdoch, either.
This is not about partisan politics. Stopping the Koch brothers’ bid for the Tribune Company is about supporting the kind of journalism that acts as a watchdog against the wealthy and powerful.
Thank you,
Timothy Karr
P.S. This deal would put the Allentown Morning Call, the Baltimore Sun, the Chicago Tribune, the Hartford Courant, the Los Angeles Times, the Newport Daily Press, the Orlando Sentinel and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in the Koch brothers' hands. If any of these papers serve the community you live in, it's especially important for you to speak out now.
P.P.S. You can count on Free Press to fight for local news that serves the public. We don't take money from business, government or political parties and rely on the generosity of people like you to fuel our work. Please consider donating $10 today. Thank you!
1. "Conservative Koch Brothers Turning Focus to Newspapers," New York Times, April 20, 2013: nytimes.com/2013/04/21/business/media/koch-brothers-making-play-for-tribunes-newspapers.html
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