McClatchy to Declare Bankruptcy?

I don't think so. Hard to know for sure, but our typesetting instructions usually specify places you're supposed to send pages to.

Fort Worth, State College, Boise, Lexington, Olympia, Tacoma, Bellingham and Tri-Cities don't mention any other places. I don't know for sure where we're sending those pages.

 

Sort of. Even Charlotte doesn't print in its own building like it used to. McClatchy sold off the press and the building and took over another plant in the city where it prints the Observer among other publications. The Observer moved its newsroom down the street to share a building with the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

 

The reason I am interested in this is if it makes sense for a bunch of papers to be printed in the same plant, and that seems to be the case, what is the next step in the progression? I would think that it would be cheaper to run a combined website for those papers. And eventually the papers will combine into one editorial product.

Another issue is what the length of the printing contracts are. The history of the JOA's frequently went like this. The two papers would merge. One of the papers would own the printing presses. At the end of the contract the paper that owned the presses would refuse to renew the contract. The owner o the second paper in the market would then close the paper rather than go out and pay for a new plant. The owner of the surviving paper would swoop in and pick up as much of the circulation and advertising as he could.

Newspapers tend to die slowly.

 

Modesto, Merced, Fresno and San Luis Obispo are being printed in either Fremont or Santa Maria (always forget which ones go to where). Charlotte and Raleigh/Fayetteville handling Carolinas printing.

Don't know where Macon, Columbus and Bradenton are printed. Typeset instructions don't mention any specific place.

 

Charlotte hasn't had a building since July 31. Supposedly they were going to look for smaller, cheaper digs in 2021 (without space for Publishing Center employees), but no news on that front.

 

The new owner is shedding assets and it seems like most of the printing is going to Gannett. I wonder if he winds up selling the papers, either to another chain or one by one. He does seem very interested in the newspaper business.

 

I'm not sure about the building situation in other cities, but Charlotte was renting three floors (they never needed more than one and a half) and took advantage of a loophole that allowed them to exit their lease early. Makes no sense to throw away money on rent in this work-remotely environment.

 

Small point of clarification: Same building as the NASCAR offices at NASCAR Plaza, but not the same building as the HOF (though you can walk through the convention center to get there). But as BTE said, Charlotte and 7 (?) other outlets moved out of the newsroom during bankruptcy. Has to do with a rule that lets you get out of a lease when in bankruptcy based on when the agreement was signed but I don't know the specifics on that. Charlotte had three floors it sublet from another company but only used two of them. All of McClatchy is still in WFH until at least July.

 

This is a huge oversimplification but in a bankruptcy the court will allow the lease to be terminated and the renter will only be liable for a penalty of about 18 months. So if a renter has a a lease for twenty years the court will only allow the court to recoup 18 months of rent. The court believes the landlord can recover the rest of the value of the lease by renting it to a new tenant.

 

I’m reasonably certain that Bradenton is printed in Sarasota.

 

I … wait, what?!?

 

FWIW, this "company-wide" e-mail hasn't made its way to my inbox.