2008 Woodie Awards
Independent media threatened by merger
La Voz Editorial Staff
Issue date: 4/24/06 Section: Editorials
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Accurate and unbiased news may be a little bit harder to fi nd from now on if MediaNews Group has its way. If regulators approve, one company will own all of the major newspapers from Monterey to Vallejo except for the San Francisco Chronicle. But as part of the deal, Hearst, which owns the Chronicle, will become an investor and partner.
One paper investing in a rival paper only begs the question: does Hearst have anti-competitive motives in the deal?
Even if there was no collusion in a smoky room to limit news coverage, the U.S. Department of Justice ought to block the deal.
After the deal, MediaGroup will control 44 newspapers with a combined circulation of over 800,000, according to the San Jose Newspaper Guild. That alone should concern the Justice Department. Cooperation among these papers will mean readers will get the same facts, the same sources and the same slant on every news story. Independent media may as well be dead.
The very few papers not owned by MediaGroup after the merger, such as the Watsonville Register-Pajaronian, the S.F. Bay Guardian, and The Metro may end up being the last place you will be able to turn to for independent journalism.
With less competition and more cooperation, there will be less coverage, fewer sources, and less information available to citizens. Some stories will be completely missed by MediaGroup and 800,000 Bay Area residents.
But even those who don't read newspapers will see their news coverage affected. Newspapers are the main sources of information for basically every other medium: television, blogs and radio all rely upon printed information to tell you what's going on.
When Knight Ridder, the company that, until recently owned the Mercury News went public in 1969, its chief executive told Wall Street, "Ladies and gentlemen, I do not intend to become your prisoner."
In November, Knight Ridder finally surrendered to the whims of investors disappointed with the company's performance and put itself up for sale.
It didn't matter that the company had 16 percent profi t margins - hotel companies average 11 and grocers less than 4. It didn't matter that Knight Ridder had won 84 Pulitzer prizes with its 32 daily newspapers while Gannett, the largest chain with 91 dailies, won 45.
What did matter was that investors could make more money at the possible expense of journalistic excellence. The Justice Department ought to understand that and block the merger from happening.
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