James Ledbetter (Big Money, 2/20/10) points out that Mexican media mogul Carlos Slim, the third-richest person on the planet and one of the New York Times‘ biggest stockholders, is a central player in a remarkable New York-based legal story–one that the Times has so far ignored.
The story involves Slim’s attempt to take over a loan that JPMorgan Chase made to a subsidiary of Grupo Televisa, Slim’s major business rival–a deal that would have required Televisa to reveal virtually all its financial secrets. A U.S. federal judge in New York City held that JPMorgan was acting in “bad faith” and put a hold on the loan’s transfer (Reuters.com, 2/18/10).
Writes Ledbetter:
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 website–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.
I suppose that the Times could argue that it just doesn’t find judicial findings of financial wrongdoing against the biggest corporation based in New York City to be particularly newsworthy.
What are the odds that “the paper of record” will duly relate the facts of this case?
How about Slim and none?
I don’t think this makes the situation any better, but one can imagine that the story would be downplayed regardless of Mr. Slim, as JPMorgan itself has pull in NYC.
it just amazes me that people actually read and believe the nyt. that is the ny slimes. it has aligned
itself with other media outlets and is part of the news blackout in the world today. i have a friend
who is a union printer there and there is a steady diet of harassment by management involving
the police as well. they are trying to bust the union and there will be no more full time printers
there and you can now work there for twenty years with no hope foe a stable middle class
life. practicing what you preach is not what they do! this is tied to the article in that one
can no longer expect honesty to be part of their business practices or reporting. this will
make them one more us company racing to the bottom with the blinders on for everything but
the profit. and that will shrink as people no longer buy due to honest content. move over
gm the slimes is moving in! last year i had a rep approach me to suscribe and i gave him my number
and told him to call me when they reported real news again. he laughed and said he understood
and tacitly implied that he heres a variation on my statement regularly.
The NYT is a mere shadow of its former self. Seeing the craven Times of today, it’s hard to believe that the NYT was the first to publish The Pentagon Papers. Cheer leaders for Republicans now!