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You buy a media outlet because you want media power - ie, political power. Direct profitability is a side effect at best, the point is to advocate for policies
by fiatmoney 10y ago
You buy a media outlet because you want media power - ie, political power. Direct profitability is a side effect at best, the point is to advocate for policies and coverage that allow you to make money by other means.
Look at NYT's ever-so-delicate handling of Carlos Slim and issues that relate to him, ever since he bought 1/6 of them. Not a whole lot of criticism of his telecom monopoly or his effect on Mexican politics, lots of advocacy for policies that drive international phone calls.
- zjaffee 10y agoSure, Carlos Slim owns a huge portion of the the NYTimes public stock, but he doesn't have any significant voting power as that is held privately. If a rogue editor/journalist criticized Carlos Slim, he would have no power to fire them, where as at the Washington Post Jeff Bezos certainly would.
- dahdum 10y agoThe voting power is held privately, and Carlos Slim loaned them 250 million to keep the lights on several years ago, before increasing his ownership to 1/6. I have to believe he holds significant influence over their decisions, and any journalist raking him over the coals would see their career prospects at the NYTimes effectively end. That said, Bezos owning the Washington Post seems worse still to me.