Free The Press Campaign Trying To Raise $660 Million To Buy Tribune Co.

The folks at The Other 98% really, really don't want to see the Koch brothers to buy the Tribune Company.

The non-profit organization has launched a fundraising campaign on Indiegogo to make a bid for the publishing company, which owns the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times among other newspapers. The goal? Six hundred and sixty million dollars, to counter potential bids from billionaires Rupert Murdoch and Charles and David Koch.

"Corporate media is ruining the integrity of news," the organization wrote on the campaign's Indiegogo page. "Winning the Tribune Company back might just start moving the tide in a different direction. Consider this an experiment that could have an enormous positive ripple effect for democracy."

The Tribune Co. reportedly began preparing to sell its newspapers in February. So far, the Koch brothers are believed to be the only party interested in buying all eight of Tribune's newspapers, while Rupert Murdoch was reportedly interested in the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times.

The Koch brothers have not confirmed or denied the rumors, but the prospect of their ownership of the newspapers has prompted protests by readers and raised alarm among staffers. Half of the staff at the Los Angeles Times, for example, said they would quit if the Koch brothers bought the paper.