DKos:Big Dem Donor to Fund Knight-Ridder Buyout

[Teaser]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/3/18/13376/9256

yes, the worker-friendly buyout of Knight-Ridder -- or at least the 12 K-R papers new owner McClatchy wants to unload, including the San Jose Mercury News and the Philadelphia Inquirer -- is still alive.

According to a FAQ posted yesterday on the Newspaper Guild's knightridderwatch.org site, the 12-paper employee buyout proposal is being backed by Yucaipa Companies, a pro-union private equity firm based in Los Angeles, and owned by major Democratic philanthropist and "supermarket magnate" Ron Burkle, 53.

Burkle is "very active in Los Angeles civic affairs, as well as state and national Democratic politics," he is No. 112 on Forbes' list of wealthiest Americans, and he "counts former President Bill Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore and civil rights leaders like the Rev. Jesse Jackson among his friends and business partners." (btw, he doesn't have a college degree, starting as a stock boy in his dad's small grocery store).

Folks, we've seen lots of discussion here about the need for truly "fair and balanced" media, and we've seen lots of praise of Knight-Ridder's Iraq reporting, and other coverage, too. I've seen any number of wistful "why can't George Soros set up his own media empire?" posts.

Well, this looks even better -- a potential employee-owned media empire -- and it looks like it really might happen!

Yucaipa has an "almost 20-year track record as a worker-friendly company that respects unions and employee rights." They want to buy all 12 papers McClatchy wants to sell, and they're prepared to put up "all the money necessary to close the transaction," and then offer employees an Employee Stock Ownership Plan.

[Eric J in MN]

1. The St. Paul Pioneer Press endorsed Bush in 2000 and 2004.

I wouldn't mind if it got a Democratic owner.

[AX10]

2. kick and recomended

[derby378]

3. Too late for Fort Worth, though...

...the Fort Worth Star-Telegram was recently sold by Knight-Ridder. Don't know who the new owner is offhand.

[Lefty48197]

7. Too late for Detroit too

Our Detroit Free Press was bought out by Gannett, who previously owned the right wing rag in Detroit. I'm sure the new owners of the News will continue the right wing bias, and the workers voice that used to exist in the Free Press will disappear.

[KittyWampus]

4. K&R. This is important. So often DU'ers complain about the Corporate Media

Hopefully, this is a trend.

And a brief mention of all the DU'ers constantly complaining about Democratic inaction when it's the Media not reporting what they are actually doing.

[NVMojo]

5. good news!

[Misskittycat]

6. This is great news. n/t