There’s the contrarian local view; and then, there’s the really contrarian local view. No other way really to frame former LA Times reporter Joe Mathews‘ Zócalo Public Square column arguing in favor of Koch brothers ownership. Mathews’ mother also worked for many years at the LA Times, at one point as an Asia correspondent.

The California editor’s jumping-off point is undeniable – his former employer has become “unthreatening and predictable.” And yes, the arrival of Charles and David Koch, for better or not-worse-than-closure, would change that:

If you doubt that that a polarizing owner can be good for California, let me urge you to visit a certain coastal castle in San Simeon. William Randolph Hearst, who I’m quite sure would endorse the idea of a Koch-owned LA Times, once wisely said, “Whatever begins to be tranquil is gobbled up by something not tranquil…”

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We’re guessing that The Nation‘s Eric Alterman did not write the headline for his op ed about LA Times and Tribune Co. newspapers prospective owner Rupert Murdoch.

In the piece, Alterman cites various articulated views about the potential Murdoch-LAT match, including a pair of reporters for the Baltimore Sun and Chicago Tribune who ultimately view Murdoch as a “newsman.” From there, he writes:

True, but by the same logic, Jack the Ripper was a lover of the ladies. Murdoch may be a “newspaper man,” but he is surely not a man who respects honest journalism or even the laws of society as they apply to it (or much else, for that matter).

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Given the popularity of the Oakland-based blog TV Tattle, the only surprise perhaps is that Norman Weiss opted not to resort to a Kickstarter campaign after recenty pulling the plug.

Per an announcement today by HitFix TV critic Alan Sepinwall sub-headlined “Same site, same editor, slightly new location,” TV Tattle is not permanently going to rest alongside the Betamax, TV Guide printed listings and the Sham Wow dude:

Starting today — right now, in fact — you can find TV Tattle at HitFix.com/tvtattle, or through its original URL, TVTattle.com. Nothing changes about the site; Norman has full editorial independence to pick whatever links he likes. We wanted Tattle to continue to exist as it always has.

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You may not be familiar with the name Cal Thomas (pictured), but the reach of this political columnist is astounding. He is syndicated in more than 500 newspapers across the U.S., including the Chicago Tribune, where – comically? ironically? fittingly? – his op ed for Koch brothers LA Times ownership appears.

Thomas picks up on the Huffington Post article everyone did recently, which reported that when columnist Steve Lopez asked for a show of hands at an awards banquet from paper employees who would quit under the Koch’s, roughly half those in attendance indicated they would. Or, as this columnist sees it, a perfect new beginning:

That should make things easier for the Kochs. They can start by replacing liberal quitters and others whose ideology has turned off conservative readers. They could hire reporters and editors who will try to win back readers and advertisers by providing the type of ideologically balanced coverage they seek.

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The male-centric, occasionally NSFW-ish traffic numbers are solid for this Web enterprise founded in 2009: more than four million monthly uniques. That’s what motivated LA digital media and production company Woven Digital to add New York-based guyism.com to their publishing network, with plans to greatly expand.

There’s a little bit of BuzzFeed in the Guyism blog article format and whole lot of humor overall. For those on the mobile and Web fly, Katie Nolan hosts the daily video feature The Guyism Speed Round.

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Remember those folks, like Robert Altman, who swore they would move away from the U.S. if George W. Bush was elected President in 2000? Well, thanks to a recent LA Times awards dinner, there’s now a local newspaper equivalent to that defiant promise.

According to a fun little report by Huffington Post LA associate editor Kathleen Miles, who just this past weekend was part of a panel discussing the future of the LAT, there’s a new “I love my *cough* job…” short-form at the paper. It’s spelled *Koch*:

Facing the elephant trunk-on, columnist Steve Lopez from the podium said, “Raise your hand if you would quit if the paper was bought by the Koch brothers.” About half the staff raised their hands.

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When we recently spoke with blip.tv CEO Kelly Day, she talked about the competitive landscape. Just a few weeks later, at the turn of her one-year anniversary with the company, she has cleverly tilted that landscape by partnering with My Damn Channel.

The two leading Web series broadcasters are joining forces for new seasons of the My Damn Channel hits Wainy Days and Daddy Knows Best as well as a pair of new original series currently under development. The latter tandem will be shown exclusively for 30 days on the two company websites. And that’s not all. From today’s announcement:

For the first time, select series from the My Damn Channel library (going back to 2007) will be available on Blip, including premium programming never before been seen by the Blip audience… “We want people who love comedy to discover great new shows and share them with their friends, and this partnership helps us do that,” said Day.

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And then there were 46. That’s the total number of editorial properties under the SpinMedia umbrella now that the company has acquired VIBE magazine.

It’s not entirely clear, just like when the company bought SPIN magazine, whether the print version will survive long-term. The deal encompasses the magazine as well as vibe.com and vibevixen.com. From this morning’s announcement:

“We’re on a mission to transform the native digital media model in our category and VIBE is an exciting addition to our family of owned and operated brands,” said Stephen Hansen, SpinMedia CEO. “Similar to SPIN, Vibe is a transformative force in the music landscape elevating and spotlighting urban culture.”

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In the wake of this weekend’s highly shared New York Times piece about the Koch brothers’ interest in Tribune Co. newspapers, Forbes blogger Jeff Bercovici handicaps the overall billionaire odds. Because the Kochs have an alleged interest in the entire Tribune Co. print slate, he places them at the top of the list as an even-money bet.

Less convincing is Bercovici’s stubborn inclusion of David Geffen at 20:1. It seems pretty clear that the one-time suitor has lost all interest in the LA Times, but let the record show that if Geffen does indeed reveal he was putting forth a poker face, Bercovici wasn’t fooled.

At the bottom of Bercovici’s list is Warren Buffett:

Odds he’ll get it: 50:1. The Times just doesn’t fit the profile at all of the type of newspaper Buffett’s been buying. He’s looking to roll up papers in small, semi-isolated cities and towns that have a quasi-monopoly on local news. It would be shocking if he didn’t sit this one out.

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Sasha Chavkin’s piece for the Columbia Journalism Review is a really good example of how to go a little further with a developing media story. Rather than pile on with some sort of vague doomsday Koch brothers op ed, the correspondent for CJR’s United States Project took a look at the duo’s closest current equivalent of Tribune Co./LA Times ownership.

It’s called the Franklin Center for Public and Government Integrity. It was founded in 2009. And, from a prospective LAT standpoint, the key is the organization’s offshoot watchdog.org:

The Franklin Center, in turn, created a website of state-based reporting, called watchdog.org – fed by “a network of journalists reporting on state and local governments.” The watchdog.org site serves as a hub for stories from Watchdog outlets in 23 states…

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