Pennsylvania governor backs Burkle bid for Philadelphia papers
Gov. Ed Rendell contacted a McClatchy Co. board member this month to urge the newspaper chain to sell The Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News to an investor group headed by prominent Democratic donor Ron Burkle.
Rendell said in a brief interview Tuesday that he called Kevin McClatchy, owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates, about two weeks ago and asked him to pass on his support for Burkle's California-based Yucaipa Cos. L.L.C. to the McClatchy Co.
McClatchy Co. has agreed to buy Knight Ridder Inc., but plans to sell 12 of the 32 papers, including The Inquirer and Daily News. On Wednesday, it announced the sale of four papers to MediaNews Group Inc.
Kevin McClatchy is on McClatchy's board of directors. Rendell said he asked him to take this message to the board: "I said if all things are equal, it would be good if they can give it to Yucaipa."
The company, he added, "has a great track record of working with the unions, not trying to break the unions. And I think, in a city like Philadelphia, that would be the best thing for the Daily News and The Inquirer."
[Source: Mario F. Cattabiani, The Philadelphia Inquirer]
No comments:
Post a Comment