Posted on 12/11/2008 4:27:06 PM PST by St. Louis Conservative
How about Sean Hannity as editor of the New York Times op-ed page? Maybe O'Reilly and Cavuto in place of Dowd and Krugman as Times columnists? It might not be as far-fetched as it sounds. At least, not if Michael Wolff is right. The Vanity Fair media maven, appearing on CNBC this afternoon, not only said that Rupert Murdoch wants the Gray Lady, but predicted he would get her. [H/t Gat.]
View video here [via CNBC].
MICHAEL WOLFF: I think that everybody is looking at [the NYT] and waiting for it to kind of go over a brink, to run out of cash, which they're in the process of doing. Or to find itself in a situation where actually, and this is really the key thing, they go looking for a buyer.
A bit later, Wolff, author of a book on Murdoch, mentioned his name as a likely buyer . . .
WOLFF: I think Rupert Murdoch would love the New York Times. I mean that is finally the capper of his career. I think that's what he wants. I believe that's what he will get. But all that's true about the newspaper business, but you have to add to it price. At some price the New York Times becomes actually a very enviable buy. And we're getting to that price.
OK, to be serious for a moment, even if Murdoch were to acquire the Times, he would surely staff it with newspaper professionals, as he has done at the Wall Street Journal, not with FNC personalities. Still, the image of O'Reilly hitting the intercom, yelling "hey Krugman! Bring me another cup of coffee. And make sure it's hot this time!" is not without a certain appeal.
LOL! That would be sweet market justice!
That would be the greatest kick to the Nads of lefties if Rupert ended up buying the NY SLIMES and ends up reshaping it to being an actual investigative magazine void of leftist propaganda as it is now.
It would be an improvement, but Murdoch has been trending “moderate” to conservative liberal. I have a hard time envisioning the NYT suddenly making a right turn if he ends up as the owner.
The best scenario I can see if he buys it is that the NYT will become less radical left-wing and become more moderate. Most real conservatives will probably end up feeling about a moderate NYT the way they do John McCain!
I LOVE the idea!
Never going to happen:
1) The Sulzberger family will never relinquish control.
2) The paper is totally infested top to bottom with the most vile collection of Limousine Stalinists, Gay Mafia, Global Warmism Cultists, Liberal Elitist Snobs, and other hopeless wackos/phonys. You can never get a newspaper out of this crew that anybody in their right mind would read.
It would be great to see Rupert get the NYT. But on the other hand all of the lib's reading it would undoubtedly cancel and the paper would be gone.that would be nice but I don’t think it will happen.
As a billionaire businessman that Murdoch is, he would not change anything at first. To do a dramatic change from day one is to only make matters worse. No, he buys businesses for the five year plan. The NYT has become Hollywood-ish in that they believe that agenda comes before business. This culture of belief must be eradicated rather slowly. IOW, Mau Dowd will keep her job for a couple of years.
I thought some time ago the Sulzbergers turned him down as the possible buyer of the NYT. Hmmmm.
If Murdoch makes a good offer and Pinch turns it down, the shareholders will revolt. Even though the Sulzbergers control the voting shares, the rank and file shareholders would not stand for that. Their equity is in free fall, and if Murdoch offers them a chance to make some money, they’ll jump at it.
Don’t get too excited. He’d probably put his socialist son in charge of it. With the Murdoch money behind him it could continue to turn out Liberal nonsense for decades.
1) The Sulzberger family will never relinquish control.
2) The paper is totally infested top to bottom with the most vile collection of Limousine Stalinists, Gay Mafia, Global Warmism Cultists, Liberal Elitist Snobs, and other hopeless wackos/phonys. You can never get a newspaper out of this crew that anybody in their right mind would read.”
I agree with all that.
Plus The Slimes is a bad investment. Plus regulators, especially under Comrade Obama will never agree. lus Murdoch already has The Wall Street Journal, which he is now reworking to take on The Slimes and grab their market.
Murdoch doesn't need The Slimes.
It would be Heaven for Murdoch to get it, just to watch the liberal pashas immolate themselves in the middle of 42nd street.
Newspapers are failing, period. Young people do not read them. They are a quaint artifact of the past, like a pedal organ in the living room.
No one else was paying $5BN for the Wall Street Journal except Murdoch and the family was fighting him but reality seeped in. Murdoch collects these newspapers like model railroads. It is something to do while you make money elsewhere. The irony is that the NY Times may finally end in his hands.
That seems to have been going on since at least '06, when he started a love-in with Her Royal Thighness and the Clinton Global Initiative.
I think there are ways to make money in news media, but something needs to be done about the print edition business model. I’d be interested in looking at the papers that are actually making money right now (if there are any).
I’m not sure that the WSJ is struggling in the same way that the NY Times is.
Even if he got the Slimes, you can bet that the slant won't be too "conservative." It would be less left than the current Slimes, but not like the Washington Times, for example.
I understand that Murdoch is successfuly wooing lots of ultra-high end advertisers from the Times to the WSJ. Where is the play in buying the NY Times, which is not up sale anyway?
Then again Murdoch is a billionaire media dude and I am heating up a microwave dinner.
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