Koch Industries Responds to Rolling Stone – And We Answer Back

[DonViejo]

"Koch Facts" calls our story "dishonest and misleading." A point-by-point rebuttal.

By Tim Dickinson | September 29, 2014

Koch Industries has written a lengthy response to our feature story on the company in the latest issue of Rolling Stone. In tweets the company apparently paid to promote, Koch bills this write-up as a "point-by-point response to Rolling Stone writer Tim Dickinson's dishonest and misleading story." The salient feature of Koch's response is that the company does not argue the core facts of our 9,000-word expose. Instead, Koch targets the messenger. Koch's top target here is not even Rolling Stone, but me, Tim Dickinson.

I find it, frankly, amusing that a company that has been convicted of six felonies and numerous misdemeanors; paid out tens of millions of dollars in fines; traded with Iran, and been so reckless in its business practices that two innocent teenagers ended up dead, attempts to impugn my integrity, and on the basis of my association with Mother Jones — where I worked as an editor in the late 1990s and early 2000s, on a team that was twice nominated and once awarded a National Magazine Award for General Excellence.

Koch, in particular, takes umbrage with my reporting practices.

For the record: In the weeks prior to publication, beginning September 4th, Rolling Stone attempted to engage Koch Industries in a robust discussion of the issues raised in our reporting. Rolling Stone requested to interview CEO Charles Koch about his company's philosophy of Market Based Management; Ilia Bouchouev, who heads Koch's derivatives trading operations, about the company's trading practices; and top Koch lawyer Mark Holden about the company's significant legal and regulatory history.



Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/koch-industries-responds-to-rolling-stone-and-we-answer-back-20140929#ixzz3EzYU8eTt

[deutsey]

1. K&R

[madokie]

2. This is why we as individuals have to be vigilant

to what is going on around us so we as individuals can make good decision when it comes to who we vote for. Voting is one of our most important duties as an American citizen.

[toby jo]

3. Got your back, Tim.

[mikeysnot]

4. It is sad that a rock and roll journal

is the only source of cutting edge information in the mainstream.

[KansDem]

8. It's funny but when Rolling Stone came out in the 1960s...

...I thought it was some far-left publication for hippies to read.

Now I consider it mainstream.

[Enthusiast]

11. The hippies felt it would be a good idea to preserve some actual investigative journalism.

You know, something that is nearly extinct in the regular world of reporting.

[mikeysnot]

16. I'm a subscriber, got it for Christmas!

I miss Matt Tiabbi though...

[libdem4life]

5. Squeeze 'em until they hollar, then sqeeze them some more. Or, maybe waterboard 'em n/t

[Thespian2]

6. Water-boarding

would be too kind and gentle. They should be in prison, especially one run by a private corporation, with the most hardened sexual predators available. Then, perhaps Charlie and Dave would come to understand fully the term "screwed."

[mountain grammy]

7. If the Koch brothers work themselves into a frenzy

and explode in massive heart attacks (you know, like Breitbart) I will finally believe there is a God.

[Enthusiast]

12. Me too.

[Johonny]

9. The most interesting part of the story is the story of the family. The two brothers that left.

They only gave you a few sound bites from one of the other two brothers but it made you think there was a lot of hate in that family. If a man's own brother thinks he's a scumbag then why do they think I won't too. They wrap themselves in family values but their own family is/was dog eat dog mean. Interesting stuff. I don't generally love RS stories but this one was hard to put down.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

10. "Koch Industries is the most hostile and paranoid organization I've ever engaged with — "

" — and I've reported on Fox News."

[Enthusiast]

13. K&R! This post deserves hundreds of recommendations!

[tiptonic]

14. shine the light and watch them run

Shine the light and watch them run for cover. Just like the roaches and rats they are. Keep up the good work, RS.

[mountain grammy]

15. "Gonna get my picture on the cover..

gonna send 5 copies to my mother.. gonna see their smiling faces on the cover of the Rolling Stone"
THE source of investigative journalism in the good old USA!

[WillyT]

17. K & R !!!