Critics of media consolidation are decrying an announcement that the media company Meredith Corp., with a $650 million boost from conservative billionaires David and Charles Koch, will buy Time Inc.—which owns Time, Fortune, People, and Sports Illustrated magazines—for an estimated $2.8 billion.
In a statement announcing the all-cash deal, Meredith Corp. insisted that Koch Equity Development—a subsidiary of Koch Industries, the billionaire brothers' company that's largely been built through investments in oil, natural gas, and chemicals—"will not have a seat on the Meredith Board and will have no influence on Meredith's editorial or managerial operations."
The outcry over the acquisition announcement on Sunday followed days of mounting speculation and concerns about Meredith's bid for the magazines. Charles Alexander, a former environmental editor for Time, wrote one such warning in The Nation last week. "The story is not just about the fate of Time," he wrote. "The story is about the fate of the world."