When the Tribune Co. Filed for Chapter 11 Yesterday
it felt like something really big was happening in the news industry. Today it doesn't feel that way. It doesn't look like the Trib Co. filing is going to close any newspapers; instead, it will give the Co. leverage to bargain with its unions and creditors. It's more movement in the same direction, and not the tipping point--we're still waiting for that.
But here's the big story: Today the feds arrested Governor Rod Blagojevich, and reportedly the charges involve the Tribune Co. Also the appointment of Obama's successor, incidentally: he'd allegedly tried to "profit" from that appointment. But it's the Trib Co. angle that's really interesting. The allegation is that he withheld state support because of editorial policy.
Patrick Fitzgerald's press release cites recorded phone conversations in which the Governor instructs his top aide to tell the Trib that he would withhold support from the state (worth around $100 million to the Trib) for its sale of the Cubs unless two specific members of the editorial board were fired. He identified them as driving the Trib's support for his impeachment.
Now the news media have always been in a panic about the dangers of government support. That's why they mention a "bailout" for the news industry only to repudiate it. But here's what's becoming clear today. The big media are already deeply compromised by their business involvements. Blago got caught. How many people--smarter than Blago, for sure--don't get caught? What journalism needs is some secure form of support from The People, perhaps acting through Their Government, perhaps not, that will make it secure from the pressure of the powerful.
The Blagojevich arrest may be the financial equivalent of the Scooter Libby trial. Libby's trial pulled the veil off of the cozy relationships between DC reporters and powerful sources within the Bush administration. If we can focus on the money, the Blagojevich trial might provide an equally revealing cut into the ways that money entangles a media company. Remember, this is now a privately held company, albeit one with nearly $13 billion in debt.
it felt like something really big was happening in the news industry. Today it doesn't feel that way. It doesn't look like the Trib Co. filing is going to close any newspapers; instead, it will give the Co. leverage to bargain with its unions and creditors. It's more movement in the same direction, and not the tipping point--we're still waiting for that.
But here's the big story: Today the feds arrested Governor Rod Blagojevich, and reportedly the charges involve the Tribune Co. Also the appointment of Obama's successor, incidentally: he'd allegedly tried to "profit" from that appointment. But it's the Trib Co. angle that's really interesting. The allegation is that he withheld state support because of editorial policy.
Patrick Fitzgerald's press release cites recorded phone conversations in which the Governor instructs his top aide to tell the Trib that he would withhold support from the state (worth around $100 million to the Trib) for its sale of the Cubs unless two specific members of the editorial board were fired. He identified them as driving the Trib's support for his impeachment.
Now the news media have always been in a panic about the dangers of government support. That's why they mention a "bailout" for the news industry only to repudiate it. But here's what's becoming clear today. The big media are already deeply compromised by their business involvements. Blago got caught. How many people--smarter than Blago, for sure--don't get caught? What journalism needs is some secure form of support from The People, perhaps acting through Their Government, perhaps not, that will make it secure from the pressure of the powerful.
The Blagojevich arrest may be the financial equivalent of the Scooter Libby trial. Libby's trial pulled the veil off of the cozy relationships between DC reporters and powerful sources within the Bush administration. If we can focus on the money, the Blagojevich trial might provide an equally revealing cut into the ways that money entangles a media company. Remember, this is now a privately held company, albeit one with nearly $13 billion in debt.
posted by jnerone at 7:18 AM
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