Monday, June 26, 2006
Done deal: Former TL publisher Connor buys the paper
There's all kinds of stories this afternoon. We'll round them up here. As of 3 p.m., the Voice didn't have a story on its Web site. Typical.
TL editorial: Eff you Lynetts, and p.s. we'll be better now with the 'corporate shackles' off (?)
A brief history of the TL
E&P credits Renita Fennick's reportage
The Scranton Times used Mike Rubinkam's AP story
EARLIER: Detailed Fort Worth Star-Telegram story abour Richard Connor and his bid to buy the TL
Joe Butkiewicz writes about the life and times of Rich Connor
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8 comments:
Who are the local investors?
game on.
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Who are the local investors?
Anyone who wants to screw TS when Connor (McHugh, too?) says, "You want to get rid of the competition? We got a paper for sale, cost you a little more than McClatchy's fire sale price."
Connor finally gets revenge for not squashing the Voicers when he lost the first time around. He doesn't "win" the second time, either, but cries all the way to the bank.
By the way, did it seem odd to anyone other than me that three TL publishers visited the paper recently to look the place over? I kept thinking about what was up, basically wondering why three ex-pubs were suddenly appearing on the scene of a paper that couldn't drive the Voice out and what that meant as a business decision. The only answer that made sense was a cooperative venture to buy the joint. I wasn't thinking, at the time, that they might use it to extort TS.
Who were the other publishers besides Connor? Duncan and Contreras are the only other ex-pubs. And Contreras is very happy with Scripps.
The TL will show its true colors in the coming days by answering (or not answering) these questions in print:
-- Who are all the other investors? In particular, who are the local investors?
-- What potential is there for these investors to influence news coverage? i.e. Is investor John Smith building a controversial condo project at Harveys Lake?
-- How much did the paper sell for?
-- Does McHugh keep his job? What about the other executives? What about the overall employment numbers at the newspaper?
-- How does Connor run his business paper in Fort Worth? Is it well regarded? Or is it a pawn of the chamber of commerce types? What do former employees think of him?
-- Are there any caveats in the deal prohibiting a resale to the Lynetts or anyone else?
-- How does Connor view the newspaper's role in the community? Blind booster? Common scold? Somewhere in between? Remarks from Connor were conspicuously lacking in Monday's stories. (Though there was an audio clip online.)
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7:45 said:
Who were the other publishers besides Connor? Duncan and Contreras are the only other ex-pubs. And Contreras is very happy with Scripps.
Oops. Meant to say something like, "Three publishers: two ex- and one current." Connor took the walk, Duncan showed up as well and McHugh had also made noises about purchasing.
As I said, it looked fishy fast.
I wonder if Dale is one of the "silent" investors? It would make an interesting story, especially given his relationship with Walzer.
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