Publisher Scrutinized

I was disappointed and a little surprised that the focus of “Billionaire Beats Out Chains to Buy Santa Barbara News-Press” [July 11] was on the personality and lifestyle viewpoints of the buyer, and not on the impact the sale would have on the community and on other small papers in the state.

When Times Mirror Co. announced its sale to Tribune publishing, I saw no coverage in The Times about whether the new owners would use the paper as a mouthpiece for the priorities of their billion-dollar enterprise, of their millionaire stockholders or the conservative viewpoints of members of the Tribune board.

But when an environmentalist, a vegetarian and a wealthy citizen uses her resources to restore local ownership to an important news source, the assumption is that she is doing so to advance the cause of vegetarians or environmentalists.

ADAM BUTLER

Philadelphia