New York Times Silent On Major Carlos Slim Lawsuit

The New York Times' lack of coverage on a major lawsuit involving its billionaire shareholder Carlos Slim has at least one writer wondering if Slim has bought the paper's silence.

The Big Money's James Ledbetter wrote over the weekend about "The Story The New York Times Won't Touch." Slim, who bought a large stake in the New York Times in 2008 and then raised his stake in early 2009, is a Mexican telecom billionaire.

Slim is involved in a lawsuit that includes both JP Morgan and his main telecom rival, as summarized by Reuters' Felix Salmon:

JP Morgan took one of its longest-standing clients in Mexico -- Grupo Televisa -- and tried to hand all of its secrets over to its biggest rival, Carlos Slim. And the way it tried to do that was by selling Slim a loan larded up with covenants which would essentially force Televisa to reveal any and all information to the holder of the debt.

Ledbetter argues that the size of the trial's parties, as well as the scandalous details, would merit an article in the New York Times business section (he notes that it was covered by both the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg). And yet, the paper has not covered the lawsuit at all, leading Ledbetter to wonder if Slim's stake in the newspaper is the reason:

This is a scandalous story, involving one of the world's largest banks, a powerful federal judge, and two Mexican telecom giants. Under any other circumstances, the business section of the Times would be expected to cover it, as the Journal and Bloomberg have. Yet as of Saturday midday, I cannot find a single mention of any aspect of this case, anywhere in the physical New York Times, or on its Web site--not even a blog post or a wire story. Perhaps as the lawsuit moves on, the Times will be compelled to cover it. But for the moment, it certainly appears that Carlos Slim's investment has bought the silence of one of the world's most important newspapers.

A search on NYTimes.com Monday confirmed that the case has not been mentioned on the paper's website.

The newspaper has seen fit to cover Slim since he raised his stake in the company, however. Just one month after Slim invested another $250 million into the newspaper, he was profiled on the front page of the business section.

Comments

[Jaxy]

04:26 PM on 02/23/2010

The New York Times holding its silence on a major scandal involving its kajillionaire shareholder?

Hey, would that be anything like Fraud Nooze toning down its rhetoric on certain stories, at the behest of its Saudi Prince co-owner?

[redrichie]

06:01 AM on 02/23/2010

It's not as though the NYT feels obligated to cover a major news story if it might upset somebody: the East Side was in gridlock from Lexington Avenue to the UN for the February 5, 2003 anti-war demonstration, and they barely gave it a mention.

[CommonTator]

05:50 PM on 02/22/2010

Screw the NYT.

They recently re-ran a 9 year old article in which cell phones were found to be "safe" as fresh news.

No mention that it was the same article based on the same study from 9 years ago.

However you feel about about the possible cell phone/brain tumor connection, that goes way beyond sloppy into corrupt.

[Smithn]

04:27 PM on 02/22/2010

!Silencio,. . . Silencio. . . silencio. . . .! David Lynch's film "Mulholland Dr." . . . .I never did figure it out.. . .

[woodpecker4]

03:13 PM on 02/22/2010

I can't think of a worse investment as the NYT.

[zombywulf]

03:03 PM on 02/22/2010

So why doesn't Mexicon involved in shady dealings suprize me.

[hottingers]

02:28 PM on 02/22/2010

Carlos Slim................does he come from Carlos?

[davidly]

02:19 PM on 02/22/2010

All I need to know is that they carried the water for Vietnam, likewise Irag 2.0, and now they are helping manufacture the support for the current murderous fiasco - whatever name it takes. News that's fit to print? It's just another newspaper.

[RobinSeattle]

09:58 PM on 02/23/2010

The NY Times also fell into line for the coup in Guatemala in the 1950's and let us not forget its getting suckered into licking Bush's feet on the Iraq War.

All the news that's fit to benefit the Pentagon (or wealthy shareholders).

[altohone]

01:51 PM on 02/22/2010

Corrupt is another term for "worlds most important newspaper".

They've botched everything while doing Wall Streets bidding blaming the victims of fraud.

[larry278]

02:38 PM on 02/22/2010

The NYT is a strange, impotent, blute, not, "...world's importantant newspaper...". !El NYT es como mierda sucia; sin o con Carlos Slim! It's 2010, not 1948.

[Pleneras]

01:38 PM on 02/22/2010

He's Lebanese.

[jaimeg]

02:49 PM on 02/22/2010

Correction to altohone.

He is Mexican born of Lebanese decent. He is not Lebanese by any stretch of the imagination. He is a Christian.

[OnlyIfIHaveTo]

03:06 PM on 02/22/2010

No Christians living in Lebanon?

[voltage356]

01:23 PM on 02/22/2010

Then let's bring in the National Enquirer to Investigate the NYTIMES.

[blindhog]

12:55 PM on 02/22/2010

THE UNITED STATES OF OUR FOREFATHERS IS BEING BOUGHT OUT BY FOREIGN ENTITIES AND THE supreme court HAS HELPED THEM.

PRAY FOR US.

[GeoToronto]

01:42 PM on 02/22/2010

I think Karl Marx wrote:
"the capitalist will sell the noose that will hang him"

[RobinSeattle]

10:00 PM on 02/23/2010

Yeah, that's a pretty good description of the Republicans and China, too.

[jaimeg]

03:16 PM on 02/22/2010

Fair is fair. If JP Morgan can buy into Televisa the giant of Mexico with also many tv stations in the USA (Univision, Telefutura, etc.) Then a foreign investor can buy into USA companies. It is not illegal.

Enough said. We can not let this go.

On top of all this discussion. The Wall Street Journal when owned by Dow Jones, had the ex-president of Mexico Carlos Salinas de Gortari as trustee. Salinas de Gortari and his brother Raul, were involved in money laundering and assassinations. The brother Raul spent several years in jail. Carlos lived in exile in Ireland for many years. The Wall Street Journal kept more than silent, defending Carlos since he has despised by the Mexicans. This has been going on since 1994 to today.

Carlos Slim has been an aggressive but honest businessman, to the best of my information. Has become one of the richest in the world together with Warren Buffet and Bill Gates.

I am not a defender of Carlos Slim, I am reporting the information as I have it. So now you know.

[sonshine]

12:43 PM on 02/22/2010

Maybe they'll write about it now that they've been busted. Carlos may give them permission.

[Howey]

12:37 PM on 02/22/2010

This is a right wing BS attack to cover up the real news that the Saudi family is a majority owner of FOX news.

[LordByron13]

01:16 PM on 02/22/2010

Thank you....much ado about nothing.

[corwin]

05:08 PM on 02/22/2010

Murdoch is Saudi? I thought he was Jewish.

[falco]

12:19 PM on 02/22/2010

At least in Russia they know the media is controlled. In America, we are taught that the media is independent when it's not. Glad so many see this. Shame, shame, shame. We can change it though, through knowledge. Getting rid of the fluoride in the water might help as well (it was used in concentration camps to keep the prisoners docile)
http://www.greaterthings.com/Lexicon/F/Fluoride.htm

[AnotherMcIntosh]

12:52 PM on 02/22/2010

Google
Operation Mockingbird

[larry278]

10:45 PM on 02/23/2010

You might want to listen to the words of "Kodachrome". Loose, lousy quotation, "...When I think on all the crap I learned in high school-it's a wonder I can think at all...Kodachrome...".
Some students became cynics by puking back what they were told at exam time, then forgeting it.
In the 1950's, there was freedom of the press-if you owned the press. In 2010 the traditional, print on paper, news MSM is just 1 part of distribution & publication of news, MSM.