McClatchy filed for bankruptcy , bought by hedge fund that owns National Enquirer. Really bad news.

[octoberlib]

McClatchy Co., the owner of the Miami Herald, Kansas City Star and other newspapers, has become the latest casualty of the collapsing industry to fall into hands of an investment firm.

Only a day after Warren Buffett’s long-time business partner predicted the death of newspapers, the struggling McClatchy filed for bankruptcy in New York with plans to hand majority ownership of one of the industry’s largest newspaper publishers to hedge fund Chatham Asset Management, owner of the scandal-plagued tabloid National Enquirer.


The plan further tightens the grip of financial firms on the newspaper industry, renewing concerns over the cost-cutting and loss of local coverage that often follows ownership by financial firms. Funds from Chatham to Alden Global Capital LLC and Fortress Investment Group LLC have swooped in to take stakes in hundreds of papers, including once-mighty names as the Chicago Tribune and the New York Daily News. The nation’s largest newspaper chain is owned by New Media Investment Group Inc., which is managed by Fortress.

If McClatchy’s bankruptcy plan succeeds, more than one-third of the total circulation of U.S. newspapers will be controlled by private equity firms or hedge funds, according to analyst Ken Doctor.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-13/mcclatchy-company-newspaper-publisher-files-for-bankruptcy

[chowder66]

1. Bloomberg where are you? Buy now!!! nt

[Mersky]

2. I subscribe to the Miami Herald.

And I’m aghast. This is unacceptable.

I would subscribe to more than the three papers that I currently do, if I could pay about $3.99 monthly to read 50-75 articles per month and have access to puzzles, etc. I’d pay $2.99 if it was yesterday’s news.

People will pay if it is reasonable. Somewhere between 10 free articles a month and $$ weekly delivery is a wider paying audience.

[octoberlib]

3. My city's paper , the Charlotte Observer , is owned by them , too.

The Herald has some of the best investigative reporting in the country.

[Mersky]

4. It's a hard turn to take

And I’m thinking this can’t be a done deal.

I’m so tired of the hedge fund/private equity vampire capitalism plays that drain value. There has to be another purchaser willing to monetize more creatively.

[Scotch-Irish]

5. We need the next democratic president to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine.

I'm still mad at Obama for not doing that.