$1.2 Billion Deal Creates Media Giant
Just days after the Sacramento-based McClatchy Company announced it would sell the San Jose Mercury News to pay down debt acquired with the $4.5 billion takeover of Knight Ridder, an unlikely “white knight” has stepped in to purchase the local rag vowing to keep it “viable and local.”
Blog start-up SanJoseInside.com (SJI.com) will pay the stock equivalent of $1.2 billion for the property, consolidating two of the most influential and storied political periodicals into a media giant third in size behind only AOL Time Warner Inc. and Google Peoples Republic of China PLC. The agreed stock swap between the two companies would effectively put SJI.com holdings in McClatchy at a whopping 34%.
During a Thursday news conference at SJI.com world headquarters in San Pedro Square, Editor-in-chief Jack Van Zandt made it clear that the decision to purchase the daily newspaper was purely a financial one. “Unlike McClatchy, SJI.com is being crushed under the weight of its perceived market value (PMV),” he explained. This purchase helps rid us of some of our accumulated virtual-cash excess (VCE)—we are also actively looking to joint venture (JV) some undeveloped oil fields with Halliburton to spend more of it.”
McClatchy CEO Gary Pruitt said he couldn’t be happier that a homegrown internet start-up was taking over the Merc. “Price was certainly a factor, but it wasn’t the only one,” he commented. “We believe SanJoseInside.com is positioned greatly for explosive growth: they have great management, vision, market share and John McEnery.”
Funny thing is this could have happened just a few years ago during the “Dot Com” madness. San Jose Inside, with it 17 regular users would have recieved at least 20 million in VC funding. Leveraged itself to 47 users and gone public.
Buying the merc would have been a snap.
Could you imagine Tom McE and John McE wondering around downtown with their new found wealth?!
I say this move is very good for the community.
We will keep the Merc under local ownership. thankfully we will now see your articles on the front page of the Merc. and Tom Mcenery’s writing as editorals. this is the best thing that has happened since “open goverment in the Gonzo administration”
Considering the problems caused by nightclubs. They pale in comparison to Denny’s. We need a california urgency ordinance for Denny’s. Seem they cause more problems than clubs!
Man Shot Dead at Calif. Denny’s Restaurant 1 hour, 49 minutes ago
ANAHEIM, Calif. – A gunman opened fire early Friday at a Denny’s restaurant, killing one man and seriously wounding another, police said. It was the third fatal shooting at the restaurant chain in Southern California this we
Word of the buyout must not have yet reached the employees. Their union created a website at http://www.savethemerc.com/ to tell any potential owners interested in making a substantial profit to get lost.
Gosh, I’m so excited about this deal that I want to go out and pave over some perfectly good open space, and kill a few dozen salamanders.
San Jose was shocked this week to learn that its daily newspaper the Mercury News was for sale for a record-setting second time in one week.
This turn of events came after Knight Ridder celebrated Irish Week by selling to the McClatchy Clan for $30.00 and a mention in Sal Pizaro’s column.
McClatchy, in turn, pulled a really funny prank on Tony Ridder and announced “Hey Tony, you should have read the fine print…did you really think we’d want a newspaper that lets Glenn Lovell write movie reviews?”
Mercury News Executive Editor Susan Goldberg insisted that the pending sale did not mean the demise of the daily. She tells San Jose Inside: “Are you guys hiring? S*#T! You weren’t supposed to PRINT that!”
Around the community reaction was varied.
At City Hall Mayor Ron Gonzales, through spokesman and flack-catcher David Vossbrink issued an official statement: “Neener, neener neener. Sucks to be you! Hey Guerra, tap another keg!”
NBC11 news executive Snerdly Farquelson expressed his surprise. “San Jose? Where’s that?”
When asked how the sale of the local daily might impact the upcoming election Mayoral candidate Michael Mulcahy told a Chamber of Commerce mixer: “Beats the hell out of me, that’s a political question. I’m not a politician, I just want to be Mayor.”
Fellow Mayoral candidate Chuck Reed vowed to issue a statement as soon as he could figure out which tie to wear.
A more historical perspective was offered by San Jose Inside contributor frustrated finfan who remarked “In the San Jose in which I grew up newspapers reflected traditional values, like the time law-abiding citizens lynched those guys in St. James Park.”
The Mountain Charley chapter of E Clampus Vitis is reportedly installing a plaque on Ridder Park Drive to commemorate the important historical role of San Jose’s daily newspaper. They do not expect to see the story covered in the Mercury News.
Dear SJI,
I am writing to express my interest in a position as a journalist with your newly acquired publication, The San Jose McEnery News. Though it’s true that I have little practical experience, I’ve been assured by many that I possess a lack of writing talent equal to that of even today’s most celebrated newspaper reporters.
In response to this unanticipated opportunity, I have set aside this weekend to engage in a crash course of job preparation intended to condition myself to:
1. Reject reason, embrace politically correct assumptions, and pretend that my early life in Whitebread, Illinois was enormously affected by the music of an obscure Bluesman.
2. Remember the everyday newsworthiness of America’s key legacy issues: slavery, Japanese internment, the Holocaust, and the savagery of the Spanish Conquistadors (to be referred to as Europeans). My new mantra: In the newspaper business, guilt is always in season.
3. Feign excitement over the announcement of an upcoming Mariachi festival, and avoid mentioning the required minimum of six cervezas just to sit through it.
4. Understand that, when reporting on the government, there is always a ‘Dark Alliance’ to be found, or at least invented.
5. Pretend not to notice that in the aftermath of affirmative action the ability to speak has been so devalued that it is no longer required of official spokespersons, role models, honor students, or even presidents of the United States.
6. Listen respectfully even when a Chicano studies major curses the arrival to America of the Europeans. Resist bursting out laughing when you learn that the student’s last name is Cortez.
7. Never question the credibility of an NAACP official, mention his criminal record, or report on how a prominent attorney was able to have that record distorted.
8. Cherry-pick the news according to the approved bias; especially to be avoided, horrific mass murder stories like that of the Carr brothers (covered in Witchita by a Knight-Ridder paper, not printed in the Mercury).
9. Jump on any bandwagon loaded with wishful-thinking. Hype the huckster’s promise of the miracle of Community Policing, but be kind enough not to remind anyone about it should the crime rate increase or the murder rate skyrocket.
And lastly, as a McEnery News reporter I promise that I will be true to the values of a news jouralist and:
10. Embrace our community’s great gift of diversity, even while shopping for a private school or house-hunting in Palo Alto.
Steve,
I think that “save the merc” site was created to deal with the current situation, not the one that lead up to the initial sale.
JohnMichael if I bring the salamanders already harnassed up maybe they could pull your golf cart through Pasa Tiempo. But you’d have to be careful of the albino banana slugs though. They are probably protected under environmental concerns in the Santa Cruz area.
Finfan, your bullet #5 is priceless.
Thanks for that great post as I wrap it up here and start my weekend.
Hope everybody has a great weekend, the Irish have provided us with a reason to party so enjoy!
What a great idea. One of the McEnrys wants to purchase the paper. I’d be glad to invest $15.00 or $20.00 in the project. San Jose Inside is already staffed with great editorial writers. I think Finfan could keep the community up to date on race, ethnic and equal opportunities. JohnMichael could keep all the legal issues straight. I worry though that those letters on top of the building can’t be rearranged to SAN JOSE INSIDE. Maybe a local Clamper would like to contribute some articles. Maybe about the albinos running around on the marina dock in Alviso. Tom McE could keep the mayors race straight for us.
Dark Alliance..
Pity finfan (#9 above) for not recognizing the value of “Dark Alliance.” This was unquestionably the only researched piece to bring glory to the name of Ceppos, and it was the only piece he grotesquely betrayed after publication to his shame and infamy.
It remains a serious blotch on his resume, and demonstrated his willingness to cave in the face of facts to the bias of the NYT and the Washington Post. Shame on finfan and Ceppos for their shared ignominy, and pity the family of the writer for his untimely death.
Great St. Patty’s day gift to the people of San Jose. Keep up the momentum John…..
Let’s hear it for finfan. Once again, he shows his true color and obsession with another trite, juvenile (no offense meant to juveniles), boring, absurd racial rant. And, as usual, his lapdog, Mark T, laps it up.
Once again, Boobs (#14) shares with us his only demonstrated talent, name-calling. If I was not adverse to futile efforts I might attempt to engage in a dialogue with both him and the barking dog next door. I’ll take a pass.
Now Mr. Warner’s criticism of me, on the other hand, at least represents a perspective held by many, particularly those who set the burden of proof especially low when condemning favorite targets. Finding only a few degrees of separation between international crime and covert operatives is to such people more than enough reason to blur the lines of culpability and rain discredit down on an entire government. I am not one of them.
Prominent in the Mercury’s presentation of Dark Alliance was a graphic featuring a crack pipe and the CIA’s official seal. Prominently missing from the article itself was anything to justify the use of such a scandalous and misleading image. Instead, what we learned in Webb’s piece was that CIA agents in Nicaragua were commingled with Contra supporters who were in the cocaine business. Oh my! This in a war-torn country where every third person was in the drug trade.
The covert agents who dig-out info in sinister places like Afghanistan, Iraq, and New Jersey either deal with horrible people or they don’t do their jobs. In addition, the CIA, DEA, FBI, and countless other agencies rely on special employees (compensated informers still criminally active) to provide them the information that makes its way into intelligence briefings, search warrants, and RICO prosecutions. Double-dealing comes with the territory.
Dark Alliance, as presented to the public by the Mercury News, convinced a lot of people of some things they really wanted to believe: the CIA put crack on the streets of L.A., crack addicts were really victims, and our government was conspiring to kill African-Americans. I’m glad YOU liked it.
* GONZALES ON MERCURY NEWS 03/17/06 George Sampson
In a strongly-worded attack, Mayor Ron Gonzales today lashed out at the San Jose Mercury News, calling the newspaper, quote, “irrelevant” and suggesting it’s articles and editorials focusing on City Hall ethics have lead to it’s financial downfall. In an interview on KGO Radio Gonzales was asked about the Mercury’s series of editorials calling for so-called open government Sunshine Laws. The Mayor responded, again quoting: “Quite frankly if the Mercury News spent more time writing articles that were more relevant to the readers of San Jose maybe more than 20% of the adult population would subscribe to their paper.” In an apparent reference to this week’s news that the newspaper was for sale the Mayor also said, again quoting, “I think this is exactly what is leading to part of their financial problems. I personally don’t think they’re a relevant newspaper.” Gonzales also defended San Jose’s record of open government saying that, quote, “Everything is out in the public.”
Dear San Jose:
RE: GONZALES AND THE MERCURY NEWS:
After reading a portion of Mayor Gonzales’ strange remarks about the Mercury News last week on KGO Radio, I’ve come to the conclusion that either the Mercury News misquoted the mayor and owes him an apology, OR, the burden of knowing that the district attorney’s office might wrap up its investigation any day now, is interfering with the mayor’s ability to think clearly!
Pete Campbell
A note of clarification.
Posting #15 is a reprint of a 1590 KLIV news story that first aired Friday morning. Apparently somebody saw it on our station’s web site KLIV.com and re-posted it here with my byline but without mentioning the source of the material.
1590 KLIV also aired a response to the Mayor’s statements from Mercury News Editorial page editor Steven Wright.
George Sampson – News Director, 1590 KLIV
I heard the interview. Those ARE Ronnie’s remarks. For some reason I don’t think he is in touch with reality. I wonder if he is capable of chairing City Council meetings. Hurry up election—-get here.
4/1/2006
BUSINESS:
In unleashing the power of SJI’s newly minted virtual-cash excess(VCE), San Jose McEnery News managing editor John McEnery IV stated that SJI had come to terms with the City of San Jose to purchase the City’s naming rights for a ten-year period.
Effective today, the City of San Jose will be renamed the City of McEnery.
SPORTS:
The McEnery Sharks today fired coach Ron Willson and immediately announced the rehiring of George Kingston. In making the move, General Manager Doug Wilson quipped, “If there is anything John McEnery and SJI’s virtual-cash has taught us, it’s that there’s nothing like recycling lame old ideas.”
Let’s feed Gonzo to the salamanders.
I walk Pasatiempo, Dan, so I won’t need them; but thanks for the offer.
I went to the Dinner honoring the Prime Minister of Ireland last week and Gonzales was a no show due to “illness.” The rumor was that he didn’t want to share a table – or the spotlight with Tom McEnery… I think that he might actually have the the brain of a 15 year old girl – no offense to 15 year old girls!
I just saw The Village Blacksmith, Gil Hernandez, and it occurred to me that he could melt down the Knight Ridder signs and a local sculptor could cast something to replace Quetzi.
That really does mean that the McEnery’s own all of San Jose…can you bring back SAN JOSE news to the Merc, then, PLEAAAASE!