Comments on: Why the N&O won’t be sold

by: RLR

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:58:17 +0000

I feel for you journos (and ex-journos) getting your crash course in business economics.

We mercenary technocrats got ours in 2002’s dot.bomb, and despite the bubble economy that transpired since then, our industry didn’t get bailed out and it has not (and will not!) “recovered” in the 1999 sense.

Things in the general economy will turn around, but the fact remains that outsourcing software is often cheaper than developing in house, and the newspaper as defined in the last century has to evolve.

by: Maurreen Skowran

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 07:07:56 +0000

To Ex N&Oer –

No list of N&O journalists or other employees who will be leaving has been announced.

My understanding is that names are usually not announced; we just hear through the grapevine. Don’t ask me who I’ve heard about, because I don’t think it’s my place to say.

But I’ve started Linked In group for current and former McClatchy who want to stay in touch with each other.

by: ex N&Oer

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 20:18:03 +0000

Is there any list of who in the newsroom was cut in latest round?

by: King Friday

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:00:10 +0000

You’re right. The debt is not the tail wagging the dog, it is now the dog. Any smart wannabe owners will just wait and take their chances at the fire sale or, better yet, wait for the N&O to wither away under the debt burden and step in with a new company that can be started from scratch smarter, cheaper and with the advantage going in of knowledge of the current economic and technological realities.

by: Chris

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:35:46 +0000

One more reason: since the N&O actually generates earnings/profits, selling the N&O will worsen McClatchy’s ratio, putting them much closer to the cliff.

That is unless someone is dumb enough to assume the N&O’s share of the debt in the purchase.

If the N&O was losing money, it would be more likely to be sold. McClatchy can’t afford to unload something that actually makes money.

by: Walt-in-Durham

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 11:42:54 +0000

Dan’s math also proves just how badly Pruitt has mis-managed the company. With few hard assets to back his purchase, he staked everything on revenue. He left himself no protection from a recession. Those of us who have been in business for a while know about the business cycle. What amazes me is that supposedly smart people like bankers and CEOs seem to have forgotten. No matter how this ends for MNI, Gary is out. But the sad reality is, some other company will hire him, and the cycle of ruin will continue.

by: RaoulDuke

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 11:24:44 +0000

Thanks for the reality check. And you are correct that there’s a lot of wishful thinking among the denizens of McDowell Street, a longing for a return to family ownership. Ain’t gonna happen, though, as your math so inconveniently proves.