Friday Morning Linkage

McClatchy's profit-and-loss statement: They profit, we lose
Mercifully, Mr. McClatchy passed away in May and did not live to see the Sacramento-based company that bore his name disgrace his legacy by dumping its largest newspaper -- the most important one between Chicago and the West Coast, the one that serves 5 million Minnesotans and that can be a conscience, a scold, a cheerleader and an interpreter of life on the tundra.

Twin Cities will lose Star Tribune Foundation
The sale of the Star Tribune does not include the assets of its charitable foundation, which makes annual grants to community organizations. The McClatchy Co. will honor previous commitments, then transfer the assets of the Star Tribune Foundation to California.

Private equity firms buying newspapers
Sacramento, Calif.-based McClatchy Co. said Tuesday it would sell the Minneapolis-based Star Tribune to the New York private equity fund Avista Capital Partners for $530 million.
While private equity firms have invested billions in media companies, the Star Tribune is their first major daily-newspaper deal. How Avista manages the Star Tribune will be closely watched far beyond the newspaper's circulation area.

Extra! Extra! The skinny on David Geffen and the L.A. Times
Those who have dealt with Geffen while covering this business should find that obvious. Geffen is famously vindictive. One reporter now at the Times once called me in tears after an encounter with him on the phone (one truly has to be on the receiving end of his verbal savagery to appreciate it). And does anyone think he'll tolerate articles that annoy him or his friends? And he has lots of friends—from Hollywood to Washington, from Steven Spielberg to Hillary Clinton.

Advertising's future on the Internet
Marketers and ad agencies, long accustomed to interrupting a television show or preceding a movie with their message, are now trying to learn the new language of video advertising on the Internet.

More Companies Will Start Hiring Bloggers
As one of the few paid bloggers, Romenesko believes that more organizations and companies will start hiring people to blog. “I think it would be smart for firms to experiment with blogs on their intranets—offer relevant links to employees and the opportunity to comment on them.”