Anti-toll and anti-privatization activists are bashing Macquarie for its purchase of newspapers in Texas, claiming the purchases are to silence critics of toll concessions. Sal Costello, a founder and leading figure in the Texas (anti-)Toll Party writes in his personal blog (see left) that the purchase by a Macquarie newspaper fund "silences" critics while allowing the toll branch of Macquarie to gain projects in the state worth "billions."

These newspapers, he says, have provided the most vocal opposition to the Trans Texas Corridors which he calls an "eminent domain grab."

The American Trucking Association's publication LandLine has joined in with some opinionated reporting highlighting claims the purchase is an attempt to "control information about privatized toll roads in small texas communities."

Others are picking up on this, and we've received several emails.

Macquarie in Texas

Macquarie's toll people don't yet have any interests in Texas, though they are competing for concessions on:

• TX121Toll/Denton & Collin north of Dallas where they compete with Skanska, Cintra, and Transurban/Fluor

• US281/Loop1608 San Antonio where they compete with Kiewit and Zachry/Cintra

• I-635 LBJ Dallas where they compete Gilbert, Dragados/Cintra and Fluor/Skanska/Transurban

Macquarie Media

The Macquarie Media Group (MMG) say they have an agreement for about $80m (A$102m) to buy 40 local newspapers in nine regions of Texas and Oklahoma: 4 dailies, 19 weeklies, 16 shopper or specialized publications with a combined circulation of 555k reaching 1.7m people. They have revenue of $32m, operating costs of $21m and cash flow of $11m.

MMG say they hope to consolidate the newspapers and expand them by centralizing printing, head office functions, newsprint purchases, sales and marketing developing online opportunities. They see it as a "platform to acquire and grow a network of community newspaper businesses."

MMG's present investments are a large network of 85 small radio stations outside the major cities of Australia - "outback radio" - plus a 60% share in 5 cable TV systems in Taiwan. They produce revenue of $163m and earnings before interest tax and depreciation of $53m. (All those #s are $A=80c US).

COMMENT

The notion that Macquarie would buy influence through buying a bunch of small newspapers sounds far-fetched to us.

First, Macquarie has shown little interest in the Trans Texas Corridors in the rural areas where they are buying newspapers. Their main interest has been in congestion relief highways in the major urban areas - especially Dallas.

Second, forcing a bunch of small town American editors to change their editorial line would be a bloody business and destructive of local support.

Third there are plenty of alternative sources of news and opinion out there - radio, TV, other print media, on-line stuff - so it is unclear they gain much even if they did enforce a new editorial line.

Fourth, public policy on tolling in Texas is going to be shaped by political forces far larger than any company can hope to influence.

The boring truth probably is they thought these newspapers were a good financial investment because they were going cheap. A sure way to ruin the investment would be a heavyhanded imposition of outside control over editorial policy.

But anything's possible, we suppose.

And people will believe what fits their train of thinking. Macquarie's heavy black 'eye' logo is indeed rather sinister.

TOLLROADSnews 2006-01-29