McClatchy: newspaper publisher bankruptcy 'a loss for democracy', experts warn

[usaf-vet]

Source: The Guardian

Struggling firm insists there’ll be no changes in its 30 newsrooms but experts worry powerful journalism could be lost

The publisher of the Miami Herald, the Kansas City Star, the Sacramento Bee and dozens of other newspapers nationwide is filing for bankruptcy protection.
The publisher of the Miami Herald, the Kansas City Star, the Sacramento Bee and dozens of other newspapers nationwide is filing for bankruptcy protection. Photograph: Rich Pedroncelli/AP
To executives of McClatchy, Thursday’s bankruptcy of the second largest newspaper chain in the US is the fault of its pensioners, who outnumber current employees by a margin of 10 to one.

To industry analysts of the troubled newspaper sector it was simple economics, the inevitable consequence of a company expanding its empire through accumulated debt at the same time its customer base was shrinking.

Yet whatever the reasons for the failure of a company that publishes many of the biggest titles in American journalism, including the Miami Herald, Fort Worth Star Telegram, Charlotte Observer and its hometown Sacramento Bee, there is no doubting the cost: truth and knowledge in an era of rampant fake news and misinformation.

“It’s a big, big loss for American democracy,” said Nicholas Lemann, the dean emeritus of the Columbia school of journalism.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/feb/14/mcclatchy-bankruptcy-newspapers-democracy

[no_hypocrisy]

1. The shrinking print media

I'm in northern NJ. We had a reliable newspaper for decades, The Bergen Record. In the Sixties, there was a morning AND an afternoon edition.

Gannett bought The Record. Immediately the pages were reduced by more than 50% and you have to pay to read it online. The effect is that The Record died. There is no other newspaper that gives the same information locally and regionally and statewide.

[Dennis Donovan]

3. Miami Herald reporter Julie K Brown was retweeting local stories from small newspapers

...for much of yesterday, in response to the loss of McClatchy. :_(

[Joinfortmill]

2. News organizations are in a transition to digital and it's painful.

The Miami Herald broke the Epstein scandal which is huge and currently in the midst of a massive cover-up. I hope they're able to make the transition.

[Sherman A1]

4. It is more a move to unload their pension obligations

and screw their workforce from what I read yesterday. I believe they made a statement about being a vibrant company and making a great comeback at the same time stating that "things are terrible...."

[cstanleytech]

5. I suspect its a combination of that and the loss of print readership as people switch to

getting their news online.

[Ligyron]

7. Sounds kinda like Trump saying "his" economy is doing fantastic.

OTOH, it's doing terrible so we need to cut out Gov employees much needed pay raise. They're all in the same GOP cabal.

[Sherman A1]

8. Precisely

[czarjak]

13. Never fear...

Congressman Jodey Arrington from The Bush Administration assures that the economy is strong! Take it to the bank.

[jimfields33]

6. The last time I held an actual newspaper was July

On a flight from Orlando to Pittsburgh and it was a USA Today someone left behind. The paper was 20 pages max and said 2 dollars! What!!!! I think like cable, newspapers will just go to the internet. Better for the environment anyway.

[LiberalFighter]

10. At that price they should go weekly.

[jimfields33]

12. Absolutely!!!!

[bucolic_frolic]

9. Soon only private equity with trading desks will own anything

which means conservatives will squeeze out all but the most rigid minds

[Mersky]

11. Fight for them to do this the right way: subscribe to a McClatchy paper

Right now. Today.

Here’s an example of why I’m a digital subscriber to the Miami Herald:

No signs, no gate, few guards: Are Mar-a-Lago intruders actually trespassing?
BY NICHOLAS NEHAMAS AND SARAH BLASKEY
FEBRUARY 12, 2020 10:20 AM

The lack of security infrastructure at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club seemingly contributed Wednesday to the exoneration of a Chinese woman accused of trespassing.

Lu Jing, 56, told the court Tuesday that she understood club security “didn’t want me there” after she went through the open front gate of the private, members-only club in Palm Beach on Dec. 18. She left, only to return to the president’s primary residence through an un-gated service road accessible from South Ocean Boulevard. Prosecutors called Lu’s escapade into Mar-a-Lago a “calculated decision.”

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article240220822.html

___
Also, while on their site, I broke one of my rules and clicked on some banner ads (even though I don’t want any cowboy boots - like ever again in my life).

[Laelth]

14. This is very bad. McClatchy is (or was) a first-rate outfit. n/t

-Laelth