Posted on 03/13/2006 9:08:52 AM PST by johnqueuepublic
Knight Ridder-McClatchy Newspaper Deal Reveals Ties To Clinton-Gore Financier Yucaipa
March 13, 2006 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLinenews.org - The long anticipated sale of troubled newspaper publisher Knight Ridder was announced Sunday, with California based McClatchy Co agreeing to a deal valued at $6.5 billion.
McClatchy immediately announced it will sell off 12 of KR's low-growth potential products which include the San Jose Mercury and the [much maligned here] Contra Costa Times.
The surprise McClatchy offer breaks down to $67.25 a share, of which the San Jose Mercury reports, "$40 of that in cash and the rest in McClatchy shares. The Sacramento-based company is also assuming $2 billion in Knight Ridder debt."
It is rumored that some of the McClatchy spin-offs [which may or may not include the CC Times] - the San Jose Mercury, Philadelphia Inquirer, St. Paul Pioneer Press, Akron Beacon Journal; Grand Forks Herald; Monterey Herald; and Duluth News Tribune are being negotiated for by the Newspaper Guild which is seeking to purchase them on an ESOP [employee financed ownership plan].
Editor & Publisher is reporting that, "The Guild has lined up the Yucaipa Companies to finance a deal to help employees buy nine Knight Ridder papers..." - Source Link.
Yucaipa is a very controversial company, seen as a shadow funder of Bill Clinton and democrat political interests.
On Fox's O'Reilly Factor Clinton pollster Dick Morris said, "Bill Clinton is a senior adviser - a paid adviser - to a company called Yucaipa which recently set up a relationship with a group called the Yucaipa Investment group."
According to reporting done by David Horowitz' Front Page Magazine Bill and Hillary's Teacher Pension Perfidy
"The Yucaipa Corporate Initiatives Fund has already poured millions into Al Gore's new cable channel, Current Television. Gore's venture is headquartered in a tony neighborhood of San Francisco, which certainly doesn't seem to fit the definition of a "lower-income urban" community. Nor is it minority-owned - indeed, all the major investors are white males. (Indeed, by a who's who of major Democratic Party money people - including Joel Hyatt, former Democratic National Committee finance chairman, Rob Glaser of Realnetworks and Bill Joy of Sun Microsystems."
Yucaipa is partially financed by the California PublicEmployee Retirement Fund - CALPERS - to the tune of $500M and the California State Teachers Retirement System - CALSTRS who has committed $150M to the company.
The implications of politicized investments driving former KR newspapers already noted for their liberal shrillness are yet to be fully comprehended.
From the standpoint of independent journalism, at first blush this is a monstrous development.
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Is there no area not enveloped by the Clinton stench?
Apparently not.
Why is this in the blogger section?
This is a straight news piece.
The moon?
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