0 sox up against the price paid for "the boston globe," it's not just that the team owner for the red sox could buy "the boston globe," it's that he could easily buy it five times over, ten times over, 15 times over. or if it was a news magazine you were after, even you could buy an almost infinite number of major news magazines since you're getting pretty close to dividing by zero when you're talking about major news magazines. "newsweek" was sold for one blessed dollar in the year 2010 for a man who promptly died in 2011. when news broke this weekend that it had been sold again, the terms of the sale were not disclosed. but do they really need to be? do you think it was more than a dollar this time or less than a dollar? maybe. there have been rumblings for a few months now that the koch brothers will buy something called "the tribune group," which includes the aforementioned "chicago tribune" as well as the "l.a. times," "baltimore sun," "the sun sentinel" in florida, "the ha "the hartford courant," maybe the deal might include the second largest spanish language daily in the country. now, how you feel about the prospect of the koch brothers owning all of those newspapers probably depends in large part on how you feel about the koch brothers, how you feel about these aggressively political activist billionaire brothers and their fairly radical right wing politics. i mean, even people who don't like their politics and that activism probably don't mind it in the same way when the koch brothers used their money to build theaters in the koch name at lincoln center or whatever. which they do, but owning those newspapers, owning the "l.a. times," the kw chicago tribune," two of the largest newspapers in the important swing states in the country in florida? the koch brothers? when news broke today that the libertarian-ish maybe billionaire founder of amazon.com had added a little something called "the washington post" to his portfolio of investments alongside the 10,000-year clock in that mountain in west, texas, and also a company that makes little tiny mobile air bags that are supposed to deploy when they sense that you might be dropping your cell phone. and also pets.com and cosmo.com both of which went out of business when he invested in them, when news broke today that the venerable "washington post" was being bought by jeff bezos for $250 million cash, which is less than 1% of what he is worth, does what that means and what you think about that depend more on what you think about the "washington post" as an institution or what you think of jeff bezos as a guy? how much does ownership of news outlets make a difference in the worth of what those news outlets produce? that is becoming a less and less abstract question all the time in our country now because as the news business becomes totally fiscally devalued, frankly, random people can buy even its most esteemed and important pillars for the change rolling around in the bottom of their golf bag. companies we work for? >> let's hope it doesn't come to that. >> is it important who owns the major institutions of american journalism as to whether or not the journalism -- >> i think the answer is yes. make no mistake, when i heard this news this afternoon, my reaction was holy online news batman. bezo is is buying "the washington post," and after i caught my breath a little, i did come down to it makes a difference of who buys the newspaper. whether it turns out to be something good for "the washington post," good for quality journalism of integrity, good for the country or just good for bezos, depends on his attitude as the owner of the newspaper. great journalism begins with owners and publishers who have guts, who don't back up, don't back down when the pressure's on, who don't succumb to what i previously call the corporatization and trivialization of the news. now if bezos brings to "the today is fighting back against the company that did it to them. it is a gripping fight and that's ahead. stay with us. [ male announcer ] this is kevin. to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for him, he's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. i was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again. and now i've got to take more pills. ♪ yup. another pill stop. can i get my aleve back yet? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. ♪ [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap. so, if you're sleeping in your contact lenses, what you wear to bed is your business. ask about the air optix® contacts so breathable they're approved for up to 30 nights of continuous wear. serious eye problems may occur. ask your doctor and visit airoptix.com for safety information and a free one-month trial.