Heads up news watchers - word is KnightRidder is sold - don't know who yet

[blm]

Anyone with any leaked info please post here.

[RagingInMiami]

1. Jesus

I bet it's Gannett. There goes The Miami Herald. Goddamn it.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

12. My local Gannett paper was just sold

about 3 months ago. I thought it was Knight Ridder that bought it, but maybe I'm confusing KR with another company.

[RagingInMiami]

13. where do you live?

[EvolveOrConvolve]

15. Boise, Idaho

It was the Idaho Statesman, the local paper here in town, that was sold by Gannett.

[RagingInMiami]

16. Yes, KR bought them

I guess that was part of that deal where they traded a bunch of newspapers with each other.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

17. That's what I thought

And now Gannett might buy it back? Huh...

[RagingInMiami]

18. Yeah

It seems to be a lot of that going around lately. Cingular bought ATT, but then ATT bought them back, or something like that. It's going on now.

[AX10]

2. links?

[blm]

7. no links and can't say how I know

.

[mdmc]

3. purchased by the UAE

:tinfoilhat:

[SnoopDog]

4. Ok, who told you?

That would be a good start for this thread....

[blm]

6. Can't say.

.

[RagingInMiami]

5. It's McClatchy!

(hopefully)

Merrill Says McClatchy Most Likely Knight Ridder Winner
Lauren Rich Fine of Merrill Lynch.


By Jennifer Saba

Published: March 08, 2006 11:05 AM ET

NEW YORK McClatchy is the likely front-runner in the Knight Ridder bid, according to a report released by Merrill Lynch this morning. Final bids for the company are due tomorrow.

But a lengthy analysis in the Minneapolis Stat-Tribune today, based on interviews with investors, pegs the more likely winner as the Gannett/MediaNews pairing.

"Based on trade speculation on Tuesday, we believe a successful McClatchy bid is slightly more probable but is far from a slam dunk," wrote Merrill Lynch analyst Lauren Rich Fine.

For several years there has been speculation among industry watchers that Knight Ridder and McClatchy would merge because of geography. Knight Ridder's properties in Northern California, Minnesota and the Carolinas would be attractive to the Sacramento-based McClatchy.



http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002154727

[RagingInMiami]

8. McClatchy has a solid reputation in journalism

They're not as big as KR or Gannett, but they tend to put journalism over extreme profits, unlike Gannett, which owns USA Today, The Arizona Republic and a bunch of other sorry papers in the country.

Last I heard, Gannett was the company that was expecting to buy KR. I'm hoping the McClatchy rumor is true.

EDIT: I just read the article I posted. It's going to be Gannett. Goddamn it!

[blm]

9. That would suck - Singleton's a big asshole.

.

[RagingInMiami]

10. Singleton owns MediaNews,

which is partnering with Gannett on this deal. I've worked for Gannett as a reporter and for Media News as a reporter. They both suck, but I would rather work for MediaNews.

[hlthe2b]

11. re: "its going to be Gannett"....

I just read the article and it seems totally unclear--just speculation at this point, unless I am missing something? :shrug: Good thoughts for McClatchy to win out...

[RagingInMiami]

14. I know as much as you right now

And a couple of people I talked to at the Herald say they're equally as clueless.

[blm]

21. It seems KR is being very secretive on this sale.

.

[FrenchieCat]

19. Weren't they "decent", as far as reporting news goes?

If so......it's a shame!

[blm]

20. They were the last news organization holding BushInc accountable.

.