There may be reason to rejoice on KnightRidder sale. Latest word is.....

[blm]

It's McClatchey. They were the best case scenario for us.

[electropop]

1. Elaborate please?

Who is McClatchey?

[Garbo 2004]

6. McClatchy newspaper chain.

http://www.mcclatchy.com/about/

[electropop]

12. Thanks all,

now I'm encouraged too!

A small victory in the battle for truth, justice, and the American Way.

[blm]

16. No kidding - we've been sweating this out for almost a year thinking

BushInc would win out on this. The heavy pressure from his shareholder pals was almost unbearable and meant to force the newsgroup into many ineffectual pieces.

[KoKo]

23. I'm glad for you, then.

If you felt the alternatives were worse and this means stability for you then I hope it works out.

I'm not fond of what they did to the "N&O" here in Raleigh. But, as I said in my post below...the other alternatives wouldn't have been better given that readership is down all over the country.

[blm]

7. Sorry - I expected newsies on this thread - McC is a fair news org

who treats their workers with decency. Not overly corporate in its censorship like most news group - this is crucial since KR had the best investigative team covering the Bush administration these past 5 yrs.

[Oeditpus Rex]

8. McClatchy Enterprises

probably has the best reputation in the newspaper business for treating its employees well. Its papers also do some pretty good journalism; it isn't the type of chain to put the brakes on KR's investigative reporting.

McClatchy owns mostly small dailies, many in California's Central Valley. Its largest papers are the Sacramento Bee, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and the Raleigh News and Observer.

[wryter2000]

2. I just found out I'm a KR columnist

I've been doing a gardening column for the Contra Costa Times. The check was from Knight Ridder.

[FreedomAngel82]

11. Sweet deal

[wryter2000]

17. I'm loving it

It pays more than my fiction.

[blm]

18. You'll have to pm me a column.....

.

[hholli11]

3. Who is McCatchey? and HEEEEEEEEY blm!!!

do you remember me from the bc forum? (aside: I truly hope this is you)

[blm]

9. I never stopped thinking about ya, sister....cuz I never stop working for

the cause.


;)))))))


Still hoppin' hot and driving the menz crazy?

[Pirate Smile]

4. Why? I take it they aren't RW hacks or are they just the best of the bad

options?

Thanks for the info, blm.

[blm]

10. Thankfully NOT in BushInc's stranglehold.

/

[BrotherBuzz]

14. Yes, they lean right, but....

their flagship newspaper, The Sacramento Bee, hasn't been pulling many punches on their attacks on republican politicians lately. Pombo, Doolittle and Schwarzenegger are getting pummeled - and fairly.

[seafan]

5. Reports: Knight Ridder mulling bids that top $4.7 billion

Reports: Knight Ridder mulling bids that top $4.7 billion

By SETH SUTEL
AP Business Writer
March 10, 2006

Knight Ridder is weighing bids of at least $4.7 billion, according to media reports, in an auction of its properties that also serves as a proxy on investors' outlook toward the newspaper industry.
Knight Ridder Inc., the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, had kept a tight lid on the bidding process, and maintained that stance Thursday evening after its deadline for bids had passed.

Interested parties were known to include The McClatchy Co., publisher of The Star-Tribune in Minneapolis and other newspapers; industry leader Gannett Co. as well as MediaNews Group Inc., the privately held publisher of The Denver Post and dozens of other papers.

McClatchy reportedly offered about $4.8 billion in a binding cash-and-stock offer, The New York Times reported in Friday's editions, citing people familiar with the auction. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that McClatchy's offer was above $65 per share.
A consortium of private equity groups with Texas Pacific Group, Thomas H. Lee Partners, Hellman & Friedman, Bain Capital and Oak Hill Partners also submitted an all-cash bid of $4.7 billion, the Times reported. That group's bid was nonbinding.

At stake is the ownership of 32 newspapers nationwide, including the San Jose Mercury News, The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Miami Herald. Knight Ridder was forced to put itself up for sale last November by its largest shareholders, who were frustrated with the company's lagging share price.
Knight Ridder spokesman Polk Laffoon declined to comment on the bidding. McClatchy officials did not return calls for comment.

snip

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=...

[mom cat]

13. It could have been far worse. Yesterday they thought it would be Gannett.

[pinto]

15. Yeah. I think overall, they're most apt to stay out of the K-R

Washington Bureau and let the K-R papers have some editorial leeway. I get a local K-R paper here in a fairly conservative CA county, but it routinely runs the national investigative stuff and the military analysis from their lead military affairs writer(Galloway?sp?)

[Triana]

19. Well McClatchey owns N & O and it sucks....

...sorry folks but it does. You can guess why. Is there something else I'm missing here?

[RagingInMiami]

20. Gannett is much worse

Much worse.

[KoKo]

22. Yes....it went down hill right after McClatchy bought it. They don't have

enough reporters to report on local government issues and they wouldn't touch any story that could possibly hurt any of their advertisers. They take feeds from WaPo and NYT's and wire services. They rarely investigate anything and the paper lost it's community feel when McClatchey bought it.

Sure...anyone else could have been as bad...but many of us would have hoped some Liberal Consortium's could have pooled their money and made an attempt to SAVE Knight Ridder... Many reporters will lose their jobs and the local reporting will be absent.

Newspapers are in trouble anyway...but Knight Ridder did do some balanced reporting and dug into stories in ways others wouldn't touch.

[blm]

24. But the alternative was way worse and more loyal to BushInc.

McClatchy leans right of center but in the more traditional sense, not the fascist fundie style of today's media.

There is a much better chance of them leaving the DC investigative bureau alone to do their job, than with any other group in the running.

[Beetwasher]

21. Whew! Thanks blm!

That's good to hear!!

Don't know much about them, but I'll take your word for it!

[Coexist]

25. not familiar with them, but glad it is a good scenario

I was worried about this sale. KR is one of the most objective news sources left.