Star-Advertiser owner David Black bought another block of Canadian newspapers this month, according to published reports.
Editor & Publisher reported Black purchased 11 small British Columbia newspapers and immediately announced five would be closed, including two papers that had been around for about a century.
But don’t get the wrong idea, Black Press Chief Operating Officer Rick O’Connor told E&P.
The sale, so close on the heels of the surprise bid for the Star-Bulletin, does not signal the start of a buying spree, O’Connor told the business publication.
“Just in case somebody from the bank reads this, we’re not looking at expanding at this point,” he said. “We’re looking at basically filling in the holes and looking at synergies. We’re definitely not looking at any expansion plan.”
The Winnipeg Free Press reported on the last edition of the 99-year old Prince Rupert Daily News, while a Globe and Mail column reported on the demise of the 109-year old Nelson Daily News.
Black’s latest buy underscores his bullish bet on community newspapers as an industry. Some critics see it is a dead end, like this contributor to The Boundary Sentinel.
If I’d been a tablet carver back in ancient Babylon and I’d seen a bunch of, to my mind, wacked out kids starting to mark up innocent sheets of papyrus with dyes, I’d have been pretty upset. That whole ink-on-paper thing is an outrage, I’d have thought. That flimsy stuff isn’t permanent, not like stone tablets! And it’s too cheap! What about all those carvers who’ll be driven out of business? Why, anyone can write on papyrus–and that’s a dangerous thing! Safer to have qualified stone carvers in charge of all the writing. Yup, stone tablets are the real McCoy and they’re here to stay…
I heard something like this in the voice of Black Press’ David Black a few months ago when, interviewed on CBC Radio, he predicted the resurgence of classified ads in his print papers. The Internet, he appeared to think, was just some sort of crazy fad like the hoola hoop or the Be-In. Forget craigslist, he seemed to be thinking: soon enough people would return to the time-tested values of the stone tabl–er, print newspaper.
Time will tell. In the meantime, you’ve got to give David Black credit for putting his money (or someone’s money) where is mouth is.
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There is this tension between newspapering as a business and newspapering as a profession, service or calling.
Remember that the Honolulu Advertiser did not have to die. It was the successful paper. The Star-Bulletin was the loser, unable to increase circulation and far from profitable.
If we have the profession of journalism in mind, or the service to the people of Hawaii that a newspaper brings, or the value of journalism to those who practice it or to the community in which they live, then Honolulu has lost.
It makes business sense to buy up a successful competitor and eliminate it, keeping only a few of the pieces, but that’s about all the sense it makes.
I don’t know about the circumstances of the Canadian papers you mentioned, but because of a business transaction, all that many of us fought for to keep Honolulu a two-newspaper town was lost.
Larry, you got it right!
I take umbridge to the “hoola” hoop dig. The hula hoop is a time-honored fitness toy and cultural icon that no technology has been able to supplant!
Thank you Ian for keeping tabs on Black!!! SOMEONE needs to keep an eye on him in this small town, and his papers obviously can’t be expected to do it! there is NO WAY the publishing industry will be Born Again in the 21st Century! Black would have to buy out the Internet first.
When do we get a “like” button? 😉
There’s several hundred unemployed, uncompensated Advertiser workers whose money got put where Black’s mouth is.
I had subscriptions to both papers to help keep them alive. This morning I had to take a deep breath before I wrote check to renew my Star Advertiser subscription.
I paid $144 for a SA subscription in May. Now, it’s up to $180+. I sure hope they don’t charge for the blogs. I especially enjoy the Warrior Beat blog.
The chief operating officer says Black Press is “looking at synergies”?
So … might the casual observer surmise that their business plan is to increase penetration through synergistic use of compatible third-generation time phases and reciprocal mobility, using parallel logistical concepts as they integrate management compatibility to attain balanced, monitored flexibility and responsive organizational sophistication?
By golly, it just might work.
Very funny, Nancy. You’ve obviously got a career in politics awaiting you.