'Contra Costa Times' Publisher 'Regrets' Sale As Speculation Centers On Singleton

By: E&P Staff Contra Costa (Calif.) Times President and Publisher John Armstrong said Monday he is disappointed that its new owner McClatchy Co. has put the paper up for immediate sale.

"I very much regret that McClatchy's decision to sell off Contra Costa newspapers continues a period of uncertainty for our employees," Armstrong said in a statement.

"Any uncertainty brings anxiety," he added. "It had been our hope that the announcement of the sale of Knight Ridder would clarify our ownership situation. Unfortunately, that is not the case."

The Times was one of a dozen papers McClatchy acquired in the $4.5 billion Knight Ridder deal that it is putting back on the auction block. The paper do not fit the chain's strategy of operating papers in high-growth markets, McClatchy CEO told analysts Monday.

Armstrong said that he was "the decision is not a reflection on us."

"We have excellent newspapers, a strong growth market in the East Bay and a terrific future," he said.

Speculation about a buyer immediately centered on William Dean Singleton's closely held MediaNews Group, which owns newspapers nearby in Oakland, Fremont, Haywood and Marin.

At the Grand Forks Herald in North Dakota, which McClatchy also will be getting rid of, editor and publisher Mike Jacobs said "the general sense of disappointment is pretty widespread" but added "we've been through worse," according to an AP report.

With a daily circulation of about 31,000, the Herald won a Pulitzer Prize for community service after the 1997 Red River flood and downtown fire destroyed its newsroom and scattered its staff. It did not miss a day of publication during the disaster.

Another AP tidbit: In State College, Pa., where the Centre Daily Times will be kept by McClatchy, there's hope that the McClatchy family will be good to the paper.

"They have a strong, great newspaper tradition," Publisher Adrian Pratt said of McClatchy. "They believe in growing their businesses and they've had tremendous success with circulation and journalism," Pratt said. "It's the best resolution to a bad situation."