-By Warner Todd Huston
The city council of Hartford, Connecticut has passed a resolution opposing something that doesn’t appear to even be happening with its recent denunciation of the possible purchase of the Tribune newspaper chain by the libertarian-leaning Koch brothers.
It’s a good thing that the Hartford City Council has solved all the city’s other problems that they can play silly games like this, isn’t it?
For months there has been nothing to confirm the rumor that the Koch Brothers, David and Charles, are really interested in buying the near bankrupt Tribune corporation but that hasn’t stopped lefties across the country from panicking.
At least since April the left and the progressive media has been losing its collective mind over the rumor that the pair were looking at buying the financially troubled newspaper company.
One of the only voices on the left not in outright panic is Rick Edmonds of Poynter. Edmonds makes several good arguments of why the Kochs aren’t likely that interested in purchasing the paper chain. And since there has been neither any conformation from the Kochs about their intentions nor any actual proof in the world of finances to back up all the hyperventilating, Edwards may just be right.
Tribune’s publishing arm publishes such papers as the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, and others including the Hartford Courant.
That is where the city council of Hartford comes in with its August 12 broadside against the Kochs.
The resolution was introduced in May by minority leader Larry Deutsch and councilpersons Cynthia Jennings and Joel Cruz and was approved Monday.
In somewhat tone deaf language, the resolution reads:
Whereas, residents of Hartford need independent journalism with truthful reporting as essential to healthy democracy, and
Whereas, newspapers like the Hartford Courant, along with local broadcast and cable TV, serve as official and common media for reporting and announcements on local issues for city residents, and
Whereas, the takeover of the Hartford Courant by Koch Industries threatens to replace independent and unbiased news coverage with an outside, extreme, partisan and sensational national corporate agenda as has been shown elsewhere, and
Whereas, it is more critical than ever to maintain this longest continuously-publishing newspaper as a source for objective coverage for issues that impact its citizens, therefore be it
Resolved, that the Court of Common Council supports operation of professional, objective, and locally-useful news coverage for Hartford residents and opposes a Koch Industries media takeover which threatens to eliminate such independent coverage.
So, they’d rather see their paper go bankrupt than have someone with deep pockets save it. And, did these idiots ever wonder why the papers are going under? Could it be the extremist, left-wing, liars that they have running them into the round currently? And, what is this business about having :independent and unbiased news coverage”? They don’t have that now with papers programed out of the White House, do they? In fact, they haven’t had that vaunted “independence” for decades?
Who are these fools trying to kid?
UPDATE
Days after I posted my take on this story, news emerged that Koch Industries is not interested in buying the troubled Tribune newspaper empire. As I said above, there was never any strong evidence that they were making moves to buy the paper chain.
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“The only end of writing is to enable the reader better to enjoy life, or better to endure it.”
–Samuel Johnson
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Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer. He has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and before that he wrote articles on U.S. history for several small American magazines. His political columns are featured on many websites such as Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com, BigHollywood.com, and BigJournalism.com, as well as RightWingNews.com, MrConservative.com, CanadaFreePress.com, StoptheACLU.com, Wizbang.com, among many, many others. Mr. Huston is also endlessly amused that one of his articles formed the basis of an article in Germany’s Der Spiegel Magazine in 2008.
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