With newspaper publisher the Journal Register Co. slowly sinking toward bankruptcy, talk of the Gray Lady swooping in to save it is the talk of the town, if that town happens to be New Haven, Conn.
Continue reading below
Last month the Journal Register hired Lazard to seek alternatives as it faced a possible delisting from the New York Stock Exchange; that has since happened. At the time, Dealscape suggested likely bidders included privately-held Advanced Publishing and Gannet Co., since both had overlapping geographies with the Journal Register. One bidder we hadn't accounted for was The New York Times Co., which is being bantered about as a possible bidder, according to the New Haven Advocate and championed by Reuter's MediaFile blog.
Why does an alternative-weekly in New Haven have an interest in the auction? For starters, the Journal Register's largest daily is the New Haven Register. The Advocate argues that the Register is the lure for the Times. While that view is a bit parochial, it certainly makes some sense. The Advocate suggests there are potential synergies in the two newsrooms. One example not even explored by the Advocate is the possibility of simply gutting the sports desk and re-purposing copy from the Times' namesake paper, and its sibling the Boston Globe.
New Haven aside, a Times purchase may make sense because it could get some 21 other dailies and a myriad of weeklies, many of which are in the Times' home Tri-State region of Connecticut, New Jersey and New York.
Working against that idea is the fact that the Times has been heavily criticized for its exposure to wasting newspaper assets, in particular the hard-hit Boston Globe. None of these papers, including the New Haven Register, will give the Times the big Internet pop it seems to need. And a bunch of smaller papers won't move the dial much at the Times even if they are profitable. The Times' strategy of the future -- and it really needs one -- won't begin with a bunch of smaller papers.
With the Journal Register delisted and its debt downgraded to junk, the price has got to be decent. But if papers like the Times can't heal itself, what makes anyone think it can cure what ails the Journal Register? - Matthew Wurtzel
Comments
Hello,
I was surprised to read in this article that the Reuters Media File blog champions the idea of The New York Times Co buying Journal Register. I did no such thing.
I characterized the Advocate's information as "about as reliable as reports of multiple gunmen at Dealey Plaza," indicating that it's more conspiracy theory than reality.
I also wrote:
"The New York Times has fish of its own to fry at the moment. It is trying to beef up its Internet presence through investments and enhancements to its newspapers’ Web sites while working on persuading investors that it cares about their concerns over its falling stock price even though its first allegiance is to the family that owns it. We’re not sure how taking on a company at risk of default on nearly $700 million in debt whose stock is trading for nearly no money would help the Times."
If that's not enough to make you think that I don't put much faith in the Advocate's report, my headline was "New York Times and Journal Register? Seriously?" That wasn't an expression of credulity.
Anything can happen, and I'm always ready to be surprised, but I do not think that the NYT will buy JRC. That's not an opinion, that's a conclusion based on good sources, analysis and a couple years spent on the beat getting to know the newspaper industry.