Robservations on the media beat:
Could an 85-year-old billionaire environmentalist from Wyoming turn out to be the savior of the Chicago Tribune? Hansjörg Wyss, Swiss-born former chief executive of the medical device firm Synthes, told the New York Times he’s joining the effort of Baltimore businessman Stewart W. Bainum Jr. to outbid predatory hedge fund Alden Global Capital for full control of Tribune Publishing. “I don’t want to see another newspaper that has a chance to increase the amount of truth being told to the American people going down the drain,” Wyss was quoted as saying. “Maybe I’m naive, but the combination of giving enough money to a professional staff to do the right things and putting quite a bit of money into digital will eventually make it a very profitable newspaper.” Key to a deal for Bainum and Wyss may be securing the cooperation of Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, who owns enough Tribune shares himself to block an Alden takeover. Continue reading