Can a Hollywood producer own the Los Angeles Times? A real estate mogul can own the New York Observer. A child molester once partially owned Radar. So, why not? Rich people more or less get what they want, especially when it comes to media, right?

We like to take the attention off the small time PR people and random porno filming assistants once in awhile to focus on the actual larger issues in media these days. And DreamWorks SKG founder, David Geffen (the G in SKG) reportedly wanting to buy the L.A. Times is a bigger-ish deal.

Especially when it's being reported that, when the current editor of the L.A. Times, Dean Baquet got wind of that news last year, he was stunned.

“How’s he going to feel the first time we review a movie or music produced by a friend of his?” Baquet asked.

Or God forbid praising and/or not attempting to destroy a rival. And n "insider" tells Nikki Finke that Geffen is “very serious” and “pretty confident” in regards to getting his hands on the paper. Not that Baquet is off Finke's hook, either, though. She hears that the EIC has been hand-picking staffers who will "drum up local support" for a "local buyer" (aka, "golfing buddy") who would snap up the paper. It seems to be a pretty classic "boys club" case.

But the Times’ most pressing problem isn’t whether Geffen or someone else buys it, or Tribune sells it, or Baquet gets fired. Instead, the widespread media coverage has ignored the dangerous game being played with the paper’s integrity between this billionaire boys’ club and Baquet or his surrogates behind closed doors.

Oh, wait. Why are we getting in such a tizz? This is L.A.! We should be expecting as much. They can just sell the paper to Rick Hilton or Donald Trump and Paris and Ivanka can run the editorial section. Except for the part where Joel Stein murders the entire staff, we think that plan is flawless.

Baquet's Billionaire Boys' Club [Nikki Finke, LA Weekly]