Newspaper mogul Dean Singleton: Bias charges “totally baloney”

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 20:10:00 +0000

If the term "Citizen Kane" was an official noun in the dictionary, it would be defined as an ideological media mogul who deliberately uses his properties to both influence the political system and exert personal power. Over the years, America has seen a parade of Citizen Kanes dominate, manipulate and distort its political debate, from Hearst and Pulitzer to modern-day contemporaries like Bloomberg, Murdoch and Singleton. No doubt, that latter surname might not be as well known as the others, but it is as influential in many cities throughout the country because it belongs to Dean Singleton, the political activist whose private company, MediaNews, has long been one of the nation's biggest newspaper chains.

In two articles (linked lengthy expose here and here) published last month in Harper's magazine, I examined Singleton's use of the Denver Post to influence politics in one of the most important swing states in America. The piece cited Colorado as one of many examples where, thanks to newspaper consolidation, a politically conservative Citizen Kane faces almost no news competition, thus allowing him to tilt the news without fear of another newspaper publishing a different version of events. Among the scandals I examined was the Post's decision to not publish details of a major financial scandal surrounding U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet (D) during his closely fought reelection campaign. Bennet, not surprisingly, is ideologically aligned with Singleton.

Salon.com > MediaNews

Newspaper mogul Dean Singleton: Bias charges “totally baloney”