By: Antitrust regulators are reviewing the McClatchy Co.'s proposed $4.5 billion takeover of Knight Ridder, including its plan to sell 12 newspapers it is acquiring.
While the decision to investigate the effect on competition and prices is fairly routine given the size of the deal, the government also apparently is interested in who might buy the Knight Ridder papers McClatchy plans to sell.
A journalism lecturer at San Jose State University said he received a call this week from a Justice Department lawyer inquiring about the effect on advertisers if MediaNews Group were to buy the San Francisco Bay area's San Jose Mercury News and Contra Costa Times from McClatchy. MediaNews already owns several papers in the area and is widely believed to be interested in those two.
The Washington-based lawyer "asked about the impact of a MediaNews buyout on advertisers, rather than on consumer prices or news quality. But he was willing to listen to concerns about concentration of ownership on the news product," John McManus wrote on the GradetheNews Web site. McManus directs the group, which evaluates Bay area media outlets.
Justice Department spokeswoman Gina Talamona confirmed that antitrust lawyers are examining the proposed McClatchy-Knight Ridder deal, but she would not comment on specifics about the inquiry.
McClatchy hasn't set a timetable for completing the auction, but it wants to dispose of the 12 papers at the same time it completes its acquisition of Knight Ridder, based in San Jose, in June or July.
McClatchy is retaining 20 other papers included in the Knight Ridder deal.
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