McClatchy Buys KR: It's a GOOD Thing

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday March 13, 2006 · 1:26 PM PST

2006/03/13 · 13:26

Armando did a diary yesterday talking about McClatchy's buying Knight Ridder.

Yeah, it stinks that KR's shareholders didn't think that healthy profit margins that would be the envy of any other non-oil-related industry are enough for them, but if KR was going to be sold, this is just about the best scenario. In fact, the US news media may wind up in better shape than ever, both financially and professionally, as a result of this deal.

Don't believe me? Let me explain... (More after the jump)

It's official: McClatchy owns Knight Ridder.

As I mentioned both above and earlier in my own blog, this is the best of all possible outcomes. Most of the K-R empire will be kept intact, also with K-R's news-gathering organization.

Even better, most if not all of those papers that McClatchy's going to sell -- many of them simply to avoid anti-trust issues -- will probably wind up in the hands of the Newspaper Guild:

The Guild has lined up the Yucaipa Companies to finance a deal to help employees buy nine Knight Ridder papers through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). If the Guild were successful, the deal would probably be structured with Yucaipa fronting some of the money for the papers.
"When it comes time to the Guild's participation, money talks," said industry analyst John Morton last week about the possible success of the Guild's plan. "It really becomes a question of what sort of corporation the Guild is willing to engage in."

See, McClatchy's not just going to kill off those papers. The same probably cannot be said of any of KR's other suitors.

In fact, KR wouldn't have done the deal if they thought that McClatchy was going to summarily close these papers. That's why it's taken nearly three months for KR to get a deal -- and why they were called "arrogant" by certain folk for refusing to sell themselves off piecemeal.

The bottom line: McClatchy wins. The Newspaper Guild wins. We all win.

This content was created by a Daily Kos Community member.

Make YOUR voice heard!

Comments are closed on this story.