Mogul Close to Deal for Papers

MOGUL CLOSE TO DEAL FOR PAPERS
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Joseph Menn and James Rainey]
Media mogul William Dean Singleton has made himself the clear favorite to acquire three Northern California newspapers being sold by McClatchy Co. with his offer to buy those papers and one in Minnesota for as much as $1 billion. Completing a deal with McClatchy would give him a controlling interest in the San Jose Mercury News, the Contra Costa Times and the Monterey County Herald, as well as the St. Paul Pioneer Press in Minnesota. Singleton's Denver-based MediaNews Group already sells more newspapers each day than any other company in California and is a major player in the suburban markets around Los Angeles and San Francisco. Buying the Mercury News and the Contra Costa Times would allow Singleton to link their newsrooms, advertising and production operations to nine other papers his company owns in the Bay Area, strengthening what is already a formidable challenge to the San Francisco Chronicle. "He has most of the dailies that now surround San Francisco proper and this only enlarges his presence in the area," said veteran newspaper analyst John Morton. "With the California properties, Singleton has more of a motive than other folks to pay a higher price because it would enhance what he already owns." The boost to MediaNews' Bay Area position would reduce the number of media voices in the region and raise antitrust questions, industry analysts said. "Right now, there are multiple reporters covering important issues. You might have one from the Contra Costa Times, one from the Mercury News, one from the Chronicle" and one representing Singleton's Bay Area papers, said John McManus, director of a San Jose State University project evaluating local journalism. "If MediaNews takes over all of those but the Chronicle, there will be two reporters. It would be one thing if one single company owned the grocery stores or the car dealerships or the computer outlets, but none of those have the power to define reality, and that is the power that journalism has."
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-mcclatchy20apr20,1,62...
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