UPDATE: Newsrooms React to Sale of Philly Papers

By: Joe Strupp Staffers at the two Philadelphia dailies up for sale received an e-mail from their boss, Joe Natoli, at 3:30 this afternoon informing them of a press conference at the newspapers set for 5:00 p.m., with a large employee meeting scheduled for 6 p.m.

It is likely that the sale of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News to a local investor group will be announced at that time. Newsroom staffers at both the Inquirer and the Daily News are cautiously optimistic that the likely new owners will keep both papers going, and with little budget reduction.

But reporters in both newsrooms also admit that the background of public relations veteran Brian Tierney, who is organizing the investment group Philadelphia Media Holdings, has some concerned that his ties to local businesses, the Republican party, and the Catholic church, could make for some potential conflict in coverage.

Newsroom feedback came this morning along with rumors -- based on overheard conversations -- that an announcement, and meeting with staffers, originally slated for 9 a.m., had been moved to 5 p.m.

Inquirer Editor Amanda Bennett did not return calls seeking comment, while Daily News Editor Michael Days declined to offer an opinion. Others in the newsrooms, however, were glad to offer speculation on what the sale might mean.

"There is a little apprehension because there are local businesses involved, some who might advertise," said Robert Moran, an Inquirer reporter since 1992 who covers criminal justice. "You just want to see. Maybe they will back off or they could get interested in what the paper is writing and it could get dicey."

Others, such as Dick Polman, a longtime Inquirer political writer with 22 years at the paper, agreed. But he took a positive approach, noting Tierney's comments that he would seek to keep both papers open and take a hands-off approach. "I am going to take the optimistic view that this is a smart businessman who has to deal with Philadelphians everyday," Polman said of Tierney. "He is not going to want to be perceived as using this institution as a personal hobby horse."

At the Daily News, which appears to be under greater threat of closure because of its smaller circulation and lower profitability, many remain hopeful and glad that at least some decision will be completed soon. "Everyone is just eager for some kind of outcome," said Chris Brennan, a Daily News reporter for seven years. "We have been waiting so long. Tierney seems to be on the side of saving and restoring the newspapers, but we don't know which way it will go."

Adds Daily News veteran Mark McDonald, "The feeling is that he made a comment that he wanted to keep the Daily News going and raise revenue and do more on the Internet. Everyone is hoping that is the case."

But McDonald pointed out that the buyouts of late 2005, which resulted in 26 Daily News editorial positions gone, and 75 at the Inquirer, had already hit the papers hard: "We have been putting out a paper since then under a bit of duress."

He added that the papers' 10 unions, including the Guild, face the end of their current contracts in just a few months. "Eventually, they are going to have to get down to brass tacks," he said of the papers' finances and the unions. "They will have a big spending nut to deal with."

Catherine Lucey, a three-year Daily News writer who covers politics, also offered some sign of relief at knowing what the paper's future will be, and even some hope that it will be positive. "Local ownership is good, he will make us private, which is good," she said of Tierney. "They know us and the area."

For Joseph DiStefano, a nine-year Inquirer writer who has been covering the pending sale for his paper, the change also has mostly good elements. "The positive aspects are that they are local, and they obviously have an interest in the papers prospering," he said. "But these are people we cover. We don't see yet how that is supposed to work."

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Related stories:

Analysts See Pros and Cons in Having Local Group Buy Philly Papers

McClatchy Announces Sale of Philly Papers to Local Group