28 November 2017

Who Owns The East Valley Tribune and Times Media Group??

Maybe that explains a lot here in Arizona and The Valley of The Sun and here in Mesa: there's what's called "a cozy relationship" with a big media group like Times Media Group and the Sinclair Broadcast Group, based in Salt Lake City and owned by David D. Smith - both are looking to expand their political influences to what you read. You can see some of the public faces in the accompanying image, including ex-Gilbert Mayor John Lewis and ex-Mesa City Manager Mike Hutchison, who have moved up to positions of influence.
Conservative context: Sinclair's management has always been right-leaning — over the years the company and its executives have contributed financially to Republican candidates, offered up primarily conservative think tank perspectives, and aired segments that have given Democrats some pause. 
Sinclair Broadcasting expands its footprint:  Sinclair Broadcasting Group has been expanding its conservative profile with a series of hires and acquisitions in the last few years, and at an accelerated pace since Trump has come to power.
See this report from Axios back on 28 April 2017
Playing ball with conservative Repub Billionaire$ - The Ricketts Family*  from Chicago and owners of the Chicago Cubs sports franchise - the City of Mesa somehow managed to hoodwink taxpayers to the tune of over a $200+ Million$$$$$$-Bond Debt Service Obligation for a new sports stadium for the Chicago Cubs Pre-Season Spring Training @ Riverview.
* This year 2017: Joe Ricketts, the wealthy TD Ameritrade founder who donated almost $1 million to Donald Trump's presidential campaign, bought Gothamist, a collection of local city news sites, (and soon after shut it down).
Media consolidation boosted by political influencers: Other major conservative Repub Billionaire$ -The Koch Brothers - are investing $650 million to support Meredith Corp.'s takeover of Time Inc., and insist that they won't have any managerial or editorial influence over the combined magazine publishe
The Koch investment is another example of how rapid consolidation in the media industry has created more opportunities for partisan influencers to expand their reach.

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