PressEthic

Tuesday’s New York Times had an article in the bottom corner of the front cover of the Business section looking at the possibility that Knight Ridder will soon be sold.

The interesting part is that the individual titles held by the company could be split in the course of the sale. Taking into account all of the big issues that are being discussed in the journalism industry – the effect of the internet, falling circulation rates – and issues specific to Knight Ridder, the article says the price of the company would decrease.

But, there’s a quote from a professor at the University of Georgia saying, “I feel that newspaper companies are profoundly undervalued today, and investors are becoming aware of that.”

This sounds like a new dynamic to the “journalism as big business” discussion that I haven’t heard much about. I’d like to learn more. Can individual titles somehow work this to their advantage? Have we counted newspapers out a bit too soon?

The future of the company is unclear, but should it be sold and separated, it will be interesting to see how the individual titles fare. Aside from Gannett, I didn’t recognize the other names being thrown around as possible buyers. Plus, there are markets mentioned (Charlotte, N.C. and Columbia, S.C.) that should be of growing interest. Although the end might be near for Knight Ridder, the sale might provide us with a template for the future of the newspaper business.