Knight Ridder is using its flagship papers to control some of the rumors surrounding its pending sale.
Both the San Jose Mercury News and Philadelphia Inquirer have taken serious issue with reports from CNBC and the Los Angeles Times, and to a lesser extent with a report from The Deal.
On Tuesday, CNBC reported that rival newspaper publisher Gannet had walked away from a deal with Knight Ridder on New Year’s Day. CNBC's report was followed the next day by an L.A. Times report about two Knight Ridder executives who were seeking financing for a management buyout. In addition, the Times reported in a seperate article that the Journalism Guild reportedly was partnering with newspaper publisher McClatchy to acquire select papers.
While Knight Ridder spokesman said the stories were false, the Mercury News report did not deny a story from The Deal listing three new private equity bidders. Their reporters, however, received no comments from the buyout shops.—Matthew Wurtzel
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