Eli Broad still mulls saving newspapers

Is Eli Broad considering another run at the Los Angeles Times?

The billionaire philanthropist told a New York gathering Monday that he’d still like to rescue the paper, owned by the bankrupt Tribune Company.

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“We can’t afford to lose good newspaper journalism, investigative reporting,” the 75-year-old business maven said during a lecture on business and philanthropy at the 92nd Street Y, according to Reuters..

Back in 2007, Broad had expressed interest in buying the Los Angeles paper – before real-estate magnate Sam Zell took the entire company private in an $8-billion deal that loaded the company with debt.

“I’ve regained my sanity since then,” Broad joked, but added: “I would like to see our foundation and others join together to own the LA Times.”

Like most American newspapers, the Los Angeles Times has struggled with steep advertising declines and a migration of readers to the Internet. Since its parent company filed for bankruptcy several months ago, the paper has made ever more draconian cuts.

Broad’s background is in home building and insurance. He sold SunAmerica, a provider of retirement products, to AIG in 1999 for $18 billion. In recent years, he and his wife have devoted themselves to philanthropy, including revitalizing downtown Los Angeles, bankrolling modern art collections and improving K-12 public education.

Recently, they pledged $100 million to create a new medical institute dedicated to human genome research, to be run by Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Still, Broad said he didn’t pretend to know how to make the Times profitable again. “No one has figured out a good business model as of yet,” he said.

Reducing profit expectations might be one solution, he said. “Newspapers ought to be owned by foundations, not look for great financial returns.”

And he suggested that while the Times might not survive as a national newspaper, it could partner with other papers like the Washington Post to produce national stories.

Broad pointed to Britain’s Guardian as one business model. That paper is owned by the Scott Trust Limited, a nonprofit foundation which was created in 1936 to protect the legacy of longstanding editor and former owner, C.P. Scott.

“If several foundations are involved, there is likely to be journalistic freedom,” Broad said.

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