Why are you "holding" the print version of your weekly newspaper?

 I am writing from Texas. A nearby newspaper, owned by a friend, who's also a journalism/mass communications prof.

This last Tuesday was Texas primary election day. Tuesday is his press day, and mine as well. 

Our press normally likes our newspapers at 5 p.m. or so.

The only statewide race in real doubt was the Democratic Senate primary. I think we were pretty sure the Republican Senate primary was going to a runoff, AG, Comptroller and RRC were going to runoffs, Gov and Lite Gov were blowouts, and that Dems would likely have a runoff for AG as well. 

There was one closely contested county commissioner race in his county. A district judge and the county clerk were also contested, but not closely. 

And, you do have a website. 

Plus, we all know that in a county of any size, county elections officials will post the results quickly on the county's website. 

I would have printed at normal time. 

David Hoffmann gets his wish with Lee Enterprises

 Hoffmann, about whom I wrote in late 2024, has taken at least half a step forward in his dream of creating the nation's largest newspaper company. He had indicated then that Lee was among his acquisition possibilities, having increased his ownership stake, although Lee had adopted a poison pill earlier that year.

Per a Lee news release a month ago, Hoffmann has taken a $50 million equity stake, which will make him majority owner.

Poynter has much more. It notes Hoffmann is personally contributing $35 million with other investors taking care of the rest. Lee's current CEO, Kevin Mowbray, is stepping down and a replacement search is on, indicating Hoffmann is not looking for that spot.

The two stories note that Lee can greatly reduce its interest rate on its debt, much of it spent to acquire Warren Buffett's newspaper stable, which included Waco and Bryan-College Station. Poynter has the basics of that, and how it led Lee to agree to the acquisition:

Lee’s lender, BH Finance, offered last year to reduce its annual interest rate to 5% for the next five years if the company could raise $50 million. The deal with Hoffmann will thus allow Lee to save more than $18 million a year in debt payments.

There you go. BH being Berkshire-Hathaway of Buffett of course.

Poynter notes that Lee lost $36M in its last fiscal year, so that cuts the bleeding in half right there. Hoffmann said in 2025 that he'd not made cuts at papers he already owns; we'll see if that stands up.

Of course, 2020 was a bad year to be buying newspapers, with COVID.  

Poytner also notes that billionaires owning papers has become problematic in recent years, with the Bezos Post, Doctor Daddy Patrick Soon-Shiong's LA Times and the Baltimore Sun shifting right to curry Trump favor.

Back to the main story, though.

First, this means that the likes of an Alden, which made a 2021 run at Lee, are probably gone for "good," or "good" of the next half-dozen years. Never say never with vulture capitalists trying to acquire newspapers, but I assume Lee will be dezombified enough to block that.

Second, per an AP story, I wouldn't be surprised if Hoffmann, also per his previous background, focuses on smaller newspapers in Lee's stable. Waco and BCS would be OK under this, but, something like the flagship St. Louis Post-Dispatch? I could see it getting spun off, maybe after getting dressed up first. Per another story linked in that, the 2020 deal included Lee entering into a 10-year lease for BH media real estate. We're more than halfway through that, and I am sure it won't be renewed. Hoffmann may even look at buying his way out of that early.

 

Supreme Court: USPS can't be sued?

 Really? Beyond the AP story about this inanity, I had already read the NNA's reaction shortly after it was announced.

The ruling clearly contradicts the federal law that said "Yes it can." And, given that the majoritarian 5 all agreed to the "Trump gets out of jail for free" rulings of a couple of years ago, invites a variety of further snarking at these 5 as well as snarking about Gorsuch not getting a memo.

Beyond its potential effect on the newspaper business, there's the fact that:

1. SCOTUS apparently simply ignored the racial background claims of the plaintiff, and

2. That this surely has some spillover chance of further cratering postal service. 

Hmm, I think I'll pass on Verde Valley

 Nice location, Sedona, Arizona, area. Summer-leaning four-season climate.

The job of editor? Pays OK per cost of living there?

The job of editor? Was advertised four months ago. 

That's why I think I'll pass. Whether you hired somebody who spit the bit on you in 90 days, or else are re-advertising for something you never filled? Pass. 

Their online application, which they say they want in addition to a resume, tries to engage in age screening, too. I stopped when I got to that point, as discussed here. 

Quick thoughts on the Bezos Post layoffs and two possible options

 Here's the Guardian story; I'm sure many people have read it or others.

First, yes, DC is still a one-industry town, but pivoting to politics when Politico is already there, let alone the likes of Punchbowl for deep insiders? How will you make that work?

Second, how will you make pivoting to politics work while slicing foreign affairs? Trump's tariffs, Greenland noises, Russia-Ukraine, etc., all have domestic political angles. And, within the politics world, probably not so covered by Politico.

Per Semafor, exec editor Matt Murray says politics will remain the biggest beat, even with foreign desk cuts. 

Folkenflik at NPR notes that two people were axed in Ukraine and the ENTIRE Middle East desk closed. 

Instead of what it's actually done, Bezos had two options.

One was to "lean in" (I actually hate that phrase) to the foreign affairs angle, but expanding your voices. Maybe you don't become a Quincy Institute, but you take at least a baby step or two beyond the Nat-Sec Nutsacks™ world. Given Bezos himself being some sort of "libertarian," I don't know why he didn't think of that, to the degree he still wants the paper to be his playtoy as well as a money-maker.

The other option would have been to pivot out of national politics altogether, other than how they affect DC politics. Run the Post like the Baltimore Sun, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, etc. But, with its metro desk cut from 40 to 12, per Folkenflik, that's not an option, eiter.

Either would have been a better option, IMO, than the above. Of course, when Will Lewis was hired, I think many media insiders expected an eventual cock-up. And, other than a "Chainsaw Al" angle, it's clear there was little to no forethought in doing a smart pivot, especially if they claim they can still compete with a Politico.

Not thinking of either option shows that bazillionaires from other industries who parachute into the media world usually don't know shit and don't try to learn. 

That said, listening to the crying and hand-wringing blather of duopolists like Marty Baron is funny.  

Update: Sites like The Ringer bemoaning the closure of their sports desk? It was overextended, and in non-investigative sports journalism, Red Satan in Connecticut has been just a "little bit" of a factor. That's why the NYT bought the Athletic. Get a clue. 

GACK on Suzanne Bellsnyder

 Per communication I've seen, she's peddling an op-ed by Hawk Dunlap for other newspapers to use.

Problem? Oh, just one.

He's a currently active candidate for the Texas Railroad Commission.

So, you're offering free advertising to a political candidate, assuming you're doing this in your own newspapers. That means you're managing them as badly as the farm and ranch, which if it's like the rest of your county in the Panhandle, is overdrawing water from the Ogalalla Aquifer. 

As for Dunlap the candidate? He's almost certainly better than GOP incumbent James Wright. Doesn't matter. 

To me, this is cardinal rule No. 1 of newspapers — not giving away free advertising in general and certainly not to state-level political candidates. 

As for the election? Dems have a candidate for the general. Greens? Nobody. Alfred Molison, who ran in 2024, move over to the Ag commissioner race. 

(I am guessing that for Bellsnyder, the primary IS the general election. That's fine as a personal decision, but, beyond giving away free advertising to a political candidate, as an editor, or unofficially an editor/general manager, I would never do that for readers, unless it was a Q-and-A, which many papers do, of ALL primary candidates, or in the general, ALL candidates there.) 

Another voice of semi-concern about Hearst's growing semi-monopoly in Texas

 At the Texas Observer, Justin Miller has a fair amount of skepticism about the long-term fallout from its acquisition of the Morning Snooze, more than did Dick Tofel, whom he references. It wasn't quite as skeptical as my take here, in part from not mentioning Hearst's private ownership.

Miller was also, in his brief reference to the Texas Tribune, not at all skeptical of it, though its various "sponsors" likely have influenced the Trib's lackadaisical at best coverage of environmental issues. 

Someone at the Observer should know better.