{"id":23751,"date":"2016-05-29T20:50:56","date_gmt":"2016-05-30T03:50:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=23751"},"modified":"2016-05-30T12:31:58","modified_gmt":"2016-05-30T19:31:58","slug":"just-saying-newspaper-sale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=23751","title":{"rendered":"Just Saying: What Newspaper Bid? The DOJ’s Reply, and Ferguson Prosecutor Finally Packs Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY RAUL HERNANDEZ<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Notebookventura@gmail.com<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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What Newspaper Bid?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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“The goal of the antitrust laws is to protect economic freedom and opportunity by promoting free and fair competition in the marketplace,” according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division’s website.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Southern
Southern California Counties<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Okay, so I asked the Antitrust Division if they are aware of Gannett making a serious bid to buy the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and other major Tribune Publishing Corp. newspapers?<\/p>\n

Why might this be construed as antitrust?<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Gannett purchased the Ventura County Star and 14 other newspapers including the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. \u00a0The Star is located in Ventura County, California, which is next to Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

Gannett, a major newspaper chain that owns\u00a0USA TODAY, recently offered to pay $15 a share to buy the\u00a0Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and other major Tribune newspapers.<\/p>\n

Specifically, I asked the Department of Justice if Gannet can buy the Los Angeles Times since it just purchased a newspaper in a county next to Los Angeles County?<\/p>\n

They respectfully declined to comment to this and other questions about Gannett’s bid.<\/p>\n

“My apologies, but unfortunately DOJ declines to comment to those questions as well,” \u00a0Mark Abueg, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice.<\/strong><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n
This is why I asked.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0In March, the Department of Justice announced that it moved to go to federal court and block the\u00a0sale of the Press Enterprise and Register to Tribune Publishing Corp. The reason: It would stifle competition among newspapers, consumers would have to pay more for goods and services if the cost of newspaper advertising goes up.<\/div>\n
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The Department of Justice alleged in its lawsuit that the Tribune Publishing’s purchase of the Press Enterprise, which is located in Riverside County, and the Register, which is located in Orange County, would eliminate competition.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf this acquisition is allowed to proceed, newspaper competition will be eliminated and readers and advertisers in Orange and Riverside Counties will suffer,\u201d Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer of the Justice Department\u2019s Antitrust Division wrote in March 16, press release.<\/p>\n

Adding, \u201cNewspapers continue to play an important role in the dissemination of news and information to readers and remain an important vehicle for advertisers.\u00a0 The Antitrust Division is committed to ensuring that competition in this important industry is protected.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Department of Justice successfully stopped this sale.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0I surmised that the feds didn’t want to comment on the Gannett bid because it might effect Gannett and Tribune Publishing stock. \u00a0Still they should have at the very least said \u00a0whether they were aware of Gannett’s revised $15 bid.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0The revised offer was disclosed in a\u00a0Securities and Exchange Commission\u00a0filing. \u00a0Gannett values Chicago-based Tribune Publishing at $864 million instead of the $815 million that includes the assumption of debt.<\/div>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking for the board to \u2026 move forward so that we can get in and start our due diligence,\u201d said\u00a0Robert Dickey, president and chief executive of Gannett was quoted. \u201cWe\u2019re ready to go tomorrow, if they give us the heads-up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tribune Publishing confirmed receipt of the higher bid and said in a news release that its board will \u201cthoroughly review\u201d Gannett\u2019s revised proposal.<\/p>\n

They should all check with the Department of Justice first.<\/p>\n

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What Killed Newspapers?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Michael Moore best summed it up a few years ago about why newspapers are on the decline. \u00a0It’s corporation greed, slashing of newspaper coverage and the gutting of newsrooms. Moore said newspapers are now peddling “shorter stories, smaller words, bigger pictures in color.”<\/p>\n

“They’re slight their own throats,” \u00a0Moore said, adding that the illiteracy rate has made matters worse.<\/p>\n