Wednesday, February 7, 2018

L.A. loses Los Angeles Times to billionaire

Editors, Wisdom Quarterly; Associated Press (ap.org)

Pedestrians look at news photos posted outside the LA Times building in DTLA. The paper is reporting its parent company is in talks to be sold to local billionaire physician Patrick Soon-Shiong. The sale is being negotiated by Tronc Inc. (formerly Tribune Publishing) for $500 million. Chicago-based Tronc owns 10 U.S. newspapers (AP).
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We still have the Pasadena Weekly, maybe OC
First it was the loss of our beloved LA Weekly (though many still haven't noticed) to a consortium of mysterious pockets, deep pockets who fired nearly everyone and kept the shell an goodwill (the intangible characteristics of a business like its name and reputation).

Now a Big Pharma billionaire has bought the struggling Los Angeles Times, not to save it but to put the final nail in its coffin. We can expect more drug ads and even less real news, with more bias and spin than McClatchey could ever give it.

Sale of LA Times to billionaire negotiated
LOS ANGELES, California - The owner of the Los Angeles Times is in talks [now completed] to sell the newspaper to a billionaire medical entrepreneur.

Who controls the media controls the money.
Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, a major shareholder of parent company Tronc Inc. [formerly Tribune Publishing], would pay $500 million for the newspaper and the San Diego Union-Tribune, a person with knowledge of the deal told the Associated Press (ap.org) on Tuesday [Feb. 6, 2018] after word of the sale was first reported by The Washington Post and LA Times.

Los Angeles Times building
LA Times old building in downtown LA (AP)
The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the sale had not yet been finalized, said the deal was coming together quickly, but cautioned it could still fall apart [but it didn't]. The sale would come amid turmoil at the LA Times, which has suffered through years of cutbacks and a revolving door of leadership in top positions. More
 

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