"From the moment the Times Co. purchased The Globe in 1993, it has treated New England's largest newspaper like a cheap whore"
Related: Boston Globe Begs For a Buyer
"Times Co. seeks Globe bids; Potential buyers say paper's owner has hired firm to manage possible sale" by Keith O'Brien, Globe Staff | June 10, 2009
The New York Times Co. has hired an investment bank to manage the possible sale of The Boston Globe, and the company plans to request bids for Boston's major daily in the next couple of weeks, according to two people who say they may make offers on the newspaper.
The Times Co., which has declined to comment in recent months on whether it is selling the Globe, has hired Goldman Sachs, the same Wall Street investment bank the Times Co. has hired to sell its 17.5 percent stake in the Boston Red Sox, the potential bidders say.
It's more than just the Sawx....
"NASCAR coverage was also expanded on the cable channel New England Sports Network, which is owned by New England Sports Ventures, the parent company of the Red Sox and Fenway Sports Group. The New York Times Co., which owns The Boston Globe, holds a 17 percent stake in New England Sports Ventures."
Yeah, TELL ME AGAIN about GLOBAL WARMING and the ENVIRONMENT!!
In recent weeks, Goldman Sachs representatives have told interested parties that the Times Co. would begin accepting bids for the Globe after June 8, no matter which way the Boston Newspaper Guild, the Globe's largest union, voted....
Related: Globe's Guild Speaks
"That doesn't mean they have said they are going to sell it....," said one potential bidder.
They may not be able to sell it! Who would want to buy that money-loser?
The other potential buyer added that the process may take some time, with the Times Co. "exploring options over the summer."
Both Times Co. and Globe executives declined to comment yesterday.
"It's our longstanding policy not to comment on rumors....," said Times Co. spokeswoman Catherine Mathis.
No, just print them as fact.
No one has publicly declared an interest in buying the Globe, which lost $50 million last year and is on pace to lose money this year with the economy struggling and more readers getting their news online. However, since early April, when Times Co. executives threatened to shut down Boston's 137-year-old newspaper if Globe unions didn't accept $20 million in concessions, many industry analysts believed the company was angling to shore up the Globe for a sale.
By demanding steep wage cuts and stripping employees of their lifetime job guarantees, analysts said, management was making the money-losing Globe less of a financial drain on the Times Co., but also more attractive to suitors considering buying New England's largest paper. Most of the key unions at the Globe approved those changes....
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Tom Fiedler, former Miami Herald executive editor and the dean of Boston University's College of Communication, said the Globe would still probably be seen as a "money-losing proposition," and new ownership might need to roll out "draconian plans" to make it more financially viable. But even knowing that, Fiedler said, someone will probably find the Globe - along with Boston.com - worth owning.
"The Boston Globe franchise - the brand of Boston Globe journalism - is extremely valuable," Fiedler said. "Right now, it just has to find the business model to sustain it."
I am NOT PAYING for ON-LINE CONTENT!!!
I'm glad I have a backlog of articles (I can still expose lies)!
Media outlets across the country are struggling in this difficult economy, and major metropolitan newspapers, like the Globe, have been particularly hard hit. Circulation numbers are in decline. More and more, readers are getting their news online. And with online advertising revenues not making up what papers are losing in print ad revenues, newspapers have been shedding jobs, cutting sections, or going online altogether.
Oh, boo-f***ing-hoo!
If you were TELLING the TRUTH instead of agenda-pushing garbage every day you would be viable!
See: The Boston Globe Admits Iraq Lies Killed It
Given these problems, civic leaders and readers have called on locals to step up and reclaim papers owned by large corporations. But recent buyers of newspapers have struggled to stay in business, much less stay in the black, weighted down by debt.
We are! They are called BLOGS!!!!!
The publishers of the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Philadelphia Inquirer - as well as the Tribune Co., publisher of the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times - have all filed for bankruptcy protection in recent months. And new ownership hasn't always had local roots. In many cases, like that of the San Diego Union-Tribune this year, the buyers are private equity firms.
With this in mind, Fiedler said he feels like "holding his breath" when he thinks about who might take over control of the Globe, if the Times Co. were to sell. But given the problems and mounting tensions between the two in recent weeks, maybe a new owner, with new ideas, might be best for the Globe, Fiedler said.
"The old saying about how the devil we know is better than the devil we don't know -- I'm not so sure," Fiedler said. "Maybe the next owner will have the civic good at heart. But in achieving that civic good there's going to be some extremely difficult decisions that have to be made, decisions that will affect the lives of people at the Boston Globe."
--more--"I'm finding it hard to generate a lot of sympathy for agenda-pushing liars.
I'm sure they are good people, but....
And to add insult to injury, the Times' stiffed 'em!
"Union files labor complaint" by Robert Gavin, Globe Staff | June 10, 2009
Globe management said yesterday there's no other deal to be had....
In a letter to Totten yesterday, Gregory Thornton, the Globe's chief negotiator, said management has "no time and therefore no interest" to bargain further with the Guild. The letter, written in response to a Guild request to rescind the wage cut and reopen bargaining, said management believes further discussions would be "futile."
Translation: (see for yourself)
The Times Co. spokeswoman, declined comment issued a statement yesterday saying that with the deep wage cut imposed on guild members, the company removed its threat to close the Globe....
Who cares anymore?
I'm the only one buying 'em (nice, big, fresh stack untouched at Apu's today, save for me).
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