Free The Press Campaign Launches Ad Campaign Against Kochs' Potential Tribune Acquisition

The activists at the Other 98% are launching an advertising campaign against the Kochs with the very newspapers the conservative billionaires are trying to acquire.

The organization launched its "Free the Press" campaign last month, with the goal of raising $660 million to buy the Tribune Co.'s newspapers. Charles and David Koch are reportedly the frontrunners to buy the papers, which include The Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and the Baltimore Sun. The idea of the Kochs acquiring the titles, however, has been met with protests from readers and Tribune staffers who are concerned that their new owners would use the publications to advance a conservative agenda.

The Free the Press campaign said Wednesday that it is taking its message to the Los Angeles Times' website. "Don't let Rupert Murdoch or the Koch bros. buy this newspaper," the ad reads. "Give it back to the people of Los Angeles."

The organizers also said that it is running ads with the Chicago Tribune as well as the Baltimore Sun.

Activists against the Koch's potential ownership of the Tribune papers are presumably none too happy with Charles Koch's recent comments about the matter. He recently confirmed in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that he and his brother are interested in buying newspapers, though he declined to comment on the Tribune specifically.