Former Philadelphia Inquirer Editor Robert Rosenthal, who spent 22 years at the paper, said the sale to a local investors group could prove problematic.
[snip]
In addition, Rosenthal called the leader of the investment group, Brian Tierney, a "fierce advocate who is used to getting his own way....I can't imagine a guy like Brian Tierney taking a back seat and letting things get in the paper that he is unhappy with," Rosenthal told E&P just hours after the deal was announced. "He was a very fierce advocate for his clients, there was nothing subtle about him -- elbows and knees."
Tierney served as national head of Catholics for Bush in 2000 and has been active in other Republican campaigns. He served as chairman of Sam Katz's unsuccessful run for mayor of the city in 2003, and has represented Sunoco and other large companies. According to the Inquirer, he has donated over $200,000 to Republican candidates in recent years. One of the other leading members of the purchase group, Bruce Toll, has also been a key Republican funder in he state, but two other investors have given to Democrats.
On Tuesday, Tierney vowed to not impose his partisan views on the newspaper and keep it independent of pressure from business interests, with his co-owners signing a pledge to that effect.
That pledge isn't worth the paper it's printed on.
Americans still believe that what they see on network TV news and in newspapers is factual -- so when you have consolidation of the media into fewer and fewer hands, all of them led by businessmen with conservative leanings, the likelihood that Americans will receive unfiltered information is virtually nil.
Interesting that this article is from Editor and Publisher, which has itself just been taken over by a consortium that includes the Carlyle Group.
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