From the Times:
Newspapers report on the banks; they should not be owned by them. Newspapers should be independent. ...
If there ever was a way to kill the American people's appetite for newspapers, it is this. Make the paper nonlocal. Make it the same everywhere. Treat it as a "property," like a telephone-company bond or a share of stock. Don't sweat the long run because in the long run, as the economist said, we are all dead.That is not the way to save newspapers.
Newspapers need to be in the hands of people who care about them. Those are almost always investors with a strong local connection. The San Jose Mercury News ought to be owned by people from San Jose — not by a company in Denver owned by another company in Denver owned by a bank in Charlotte, N.C.
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24 comments:
AMEN.
Gosh. Look at this blog especially over the past couple of years. Many comments have echoed the same thoughts. Dean, the savior of newspapers, what a bunch of crap. Look at the legacy.
I despise Dean and his consigliere as much as the next person, but the comments on this blog have become predictable and boring. Hey Gary, why not just cull some of the most routine bitter jabs from the last year, automatically attach them to the end of every post about Singleton and call it good. Save us all some trouble.
if it is that much trouble, don't bother to read the blogs regarding singleton and his crew.
Like he said, look at the map. There's a pin for every bank that has a piece of that pie.
Anon 6:31 a.m.: When it comes to MediaNews, maybe we've all lost our creativity. I've highlighted the troubles at MediaNews because I think it is a harbinger of doom for all newspaper chains. Dean Singleton accelerated over the cliff, but Gannett, Belo, Tribune, etc., are headed for a similar fate. Maybe the economy and the Internet make that inevitable, or maybe it's bad management. Whatever the reasons, I hope people outside the industry start to pay more attention.
6:31: then don't read. free will dude, free will. no one has a gun to your head. some of us like reading about MNG and LANG instead of our head in the sand.
Singleton's considerable ego will prevent him from selling.
HEAR! HEAR!
I don't think Dean would put his ego in front of some ways to pick up some cash on the sale of the papers. Do you really? What's he, a newsman all of a sudden?
Singleton is a complicated animal. No, he's not a newsman by any stretch, nor is he motivated entirely by greed. I think there's some ego involved that will prevent him from selling. Ultimately that will lead to his downfall. He's a 21st Century Shakespearean character who's one flaws will lead to his demise.
I have said this before, no newspaper group, and I mean none, comes close to the venom that Singleton and his cast of characters creates about their company. I guess I should say the banks company. It is amazing.
When it comes to the newspaper hall of shame, he leads the pack.
Well, perhaps the LANG-News papers will be sold to the managers currently running them for Media Group?
12:56, yeah, that would be a thrill. Selling to the same people who have executed all of Dean's horrible strategies and who haven't come up with any good ideas.
Steve Lambert, for one, could screw up a two-car funeral. This guy is to journalism what Pee Wee Herman is to macho.
Please don't insult Pee Wee. And you are giving Lambert much more credit than he deserves. One car is about all he could handle.
Since all the newspapers but one are making money, why is he in bankruptcy and why would he want to sell. A gold mine waiting to be mined.
The papers probably do make money. It's the debt load that is crushing them. It's a common problem with lots of businesses and individuals for that matter. They thought the good times would never end.
The debt load is part of the equation of making money. It is a liability just like payroll, electricity, newsprint, etc.
The braintrust at this company kept buying houses they couldn't afford, as you said, increasing their debt load, and stuck others with their problem.
I have to agree with 6:31 on this one. How any times must we read that Singleton, Lambert and Pine are devil's concubines? How many times must we read some reporter or editor use the word "dude" when addressing a colleague? I think that says more about the commenter's professionalism (or lack thereof) than of any the above mentioned. I think what pisses off people the most is Singleton's systemic dismantling of the region's newspapers in the name of progress. Lambert, Butler and O'Sullivan were particularly arrogant about the whole thing. That is what stick's in people's minds. Those guys never offered, "how do we make this paper work," but "you guys are idiots and we must do it for you." Of course, they were wrong and most of us knew that, but we were powerless to do anything about it because the last thing any of those guys wanted was our opinion. There's only one way to make newspapers in the 21st century work, and that's invest in technology and research to come up with a new newspaper model on how to deliver the news differently. Singleton and his gang believed in the unworkable cost-cutting methods. They refused to look at the big picture. So, yeah, we are pissed, but I rather work with a guy who is given so few tools to get the best paper out each day, even if I hated his administrative policies, than to work with one who keeps calling me "dude."
"Dude" is unprofessional, but "pissed" is not?
You're in California, dude, accept it. It's no biggie.
hey there dudes and dudettes, stop turning your computer to this site and you won"t have to read about people hating deans dolts any more.
and, if you have that model, I am sure you could sell it for a lot of money.
Haven't seen one removed for a while...must have been tasteless.
removed was not tasteless, it was just too close to the truth for anyone to handle, so gary did what he had to do because he, like the rock, cant handle the tooth. All it said was that modah fuggin lean dean, just an opinion and not a factual statement, is a friggin looser with a tiny peepee who was the outcast in high school and who now is pushing everyone around like the big bully that he is. and old yeller faithful pooch lambert is the same with their big bonuses while they fire everyone in sight.
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