By: E&P Staff In a lengthy report today, The New York Times probes the handoff of Newsday of Melville, N.Y. by the Tribune Co. to Cablevision.
It suggests that "readers and Newsday journalists (past and present) ... are debating whether this change means continued shrinkage, an infusion of new resources or something in between.
"They note that Newsday has had the freedom to offer critiques of itself and its corporate parents, and they wonder if that kind of independence will continue.
"Cablevision, controlled by the Dolan family, has never run a newspaper and has had prickly relations with the news media ? several reporters and editors tell tales of Cablevision executives going off the record just to tell them 'no comment.' Newsday journalists wonder aloud whether the Dolans? declining to be interviewed after the $650 million purchase was announced early this month should be seen as an ill omen. 'This is not a journalism company,' said Howard Schneider, who retired as Newsday?s top editor in 2004. 'Do they understand the mission of a newspaper and what made this one great?'
"The experience at Newsday has been replicated across the country. In the last two years, buyers with no newspaper experience have taken over The Minneapolis Star Tribune, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News, and the Tribune Company, publisher of Newsday, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times and The Baltimore Sun, among many others.
"In each case, they struggled financially, as the new owners found that the industry was far more troubled than they had expected, and harder to change than they had hoped. '?We?re very aware of our inexperience with newspapers,' Charles F. Dolan, the chairman of Cablevision, told shareholders last week. 'We plan to consult widely and seek advice from people' who know the field."
The rest of the article can be found at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/26/business/media/26newsday.html
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