Why buy a yacht when you can buy a newspaper?
21 Apr, 2021 07:56 PM
9 minutes to read
One arena in which the billionaires can still win plaudits as civic-minded saviors is buying the metropolitan daily newspaper. Photo / 123RF
One arena in which the billionaires can still win plaudits as civic-minded saviors is buying the metropolitan daily newspaper. Photo / 123RF
New York Times
By: Nicholas Kulish
Billionaires aren't usually cast as saviours of democracy. But one way they are winning plaudits for civic-minded endeavours is by funding the Fourth Estate.
Billionaires have had a pretty good pandemic. There are more of
them than there were a year ago, even as the crisis has exacerbated inequality. But scrutiny has followed these ballooning fortunes. Policymakers are debating new taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals. Even their philanthropy has come under increasing criticism as an exercise of power as much as generosity.