Charleston (WV) Gazette to declare bankruptcy ... Ogden to purchase

Editor Emeritus James Haught provides a little background on the history of the Gazette's "Sustained Outrage."

James A. Haught: The crusading Charleston Gazette

Pay is low. It was better than what I made at CNHI and pays better than Gatehouse and several others. I think Ogden treats its employees OK.
Commitment to Journalism? Mmmm. No.
In West By God, you tow the Co. line, and that line is dictated by the political beliefs of the Ogden-Nutting family. Every paper in the state of WV controlled by Ogden papers runs editorials and even stories from Wheeling, or dictated by Wheeling. NO Exceptions.
The Gazette's Sustained Outrage will be short-lived once Wheeling takes control.

 

The Charleston Gazette was probably too liberal for its market. But are there any examples of conservative, stand alone papers thriving? I wonder if this more evidence that stand-alone properties are losing their economic viability.

 

It is more evidence of that, without question.

 

If Ogden buys Charleston what will be the largest non-Ogden paper let in West Virginia?

 

Morgantown Dominion Post.

 

HD Media, makes last-ditch entry to bid on Gazette.
Ogden withdraws.
HD Media, which owns Huntington Herald Dispatch wins the auction by default.

WV MetroNews – Ogden out as Gazette-Mail bidder, leaving Herald-Dispatch

 

They probably bid $10 more than Ogden, so Ogden threw in the towel.

 

Harrisburg has a metro population of 550,000 and is the state capital. And it couldn't support a daily, or at least that was Advance's take on it.

 

Was Harrisburg losing money as a daily or did Newhouse decide they could make even more money by reducing frequency?

 

My take on it has always been that they panicked when Harrisburg stopped covering the losses of their New Jersey chainmates.

 

Close. It was the $500K required to re-enter the bidding process.

HD Media is successful bidder for Gazette-Mail

Of note, it seems $400K of that was a breakup fee that went to the Nuttings. So even in losing, tucking tail and running, they still came out ahead in their ledger.

 

That has to be good news, right? One can hope?