Who's afraid of the big, bad Koch Brothers?

[Commentary] Why is the City of Big Shoulders so afraid of the Koch Brothers? Our snootiness this time seems much more wan and hollow than it did in 1984, when the Fields of department store fame sold the Sun-Times to Rupert Murdoch. So why, then, are we so afraid of a couple of reactionary rich guys from Kansas? So why do we care that these funders of conservative Republican causes want to buy a few newspapers in some of the nation's most liberal cities? Do we really think they'll be able to not only control the content in Tribune Co. properties but also brainwash us with it? Come on, Shoulderans. Have some faith in yourselves. Let's take their money.

[Pacatte teaches at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism]