By: E&P Staff With Knight Ridder's Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal now up for sale -- by The McClatchy Co. -- the city's mayor, Don Plusquellic, is gathering a group of city leaders to make sure the paper ends up in proper hands.
Plusquellic said last week, according to the newspaper, that he intends to contact McClatchy directly. "I hope they sell it to somebody who is legitimately concerned about the one goal that is important, which is not just make money but reporting the news accurately," he said.
The paper reportedly has double-digit profit margins, but that's below the industry average.
Possible buyers, the paper said, include newspaper companies MediaNews Group, Gannett Co., and Media General Inc., as well as the guild-led employee buyout plan backed by "worker-friendly" private equity funding.
An article in the Akron paper on Sunday by Michael Douglas concluded:
"How does a newspaper company grow, balancing short-term financial pressure against the long-term investments required to adapt and refresh? Gary Pruitt, the chief executive officer of McClatchy, didn't flinch at the business decision, noting that the 20 Knight Ridder papers his company will keep enjoy annual household income growth of 11 percent in their areas and average cash-flow margins of 30 percent.
"The dozen to be dumped? Try 4.8 percent household income growth and 18 percent cash-flow margins.
"What will happen to the Beacon Journal? The ideal would be an owner firmly in touch with the Knight legacy, eager to find new ways to fulfill an enlightened mission. The reality? The legacy won't soon fade. The opportunities are there. This won't be John Knight's paper, anymore."
A Sunday column in Cleveland's Plain Dealer by Beacon Journal alum Regina Brett noted the paper's four Pulitzers as Knight's flagship, and ended this way:
"There's a shrine at the Beacon Journal with Knight's heavy black typewriter behind glass, surrounded by Knight quotes: 'I don't care who runs this city as long as somebody does. It's too important to be left alone.'
"John S. Knight would say the same thing about his first newspaper: It's too important to be left alone."
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