Memo to Tribune Rescuers: First Thing You Do, Stop Printing the Papers

 By Richard J. Tofel

Thanks for saving your local newspaper. Now do something hard, before it gets much harder.

Among the very bad things that have happened to local newspapers over the last 16 years, likely the worst has been the slide of so many into the hands of hedge funds. More than half of the nation’s newspapers by circulation are now owned by such funds. The reason this is such bad news is that these investors have two distinguishing characteristics: 1) they care about returns on their investment and nothing else, and 2) they insist that the returns come quickly. So concerns about the effect on underserved communities don’t count, and investment for the long run is out of the question.

Now, in cities ranging from Chicago to Orlando to Baltimore to Hartford, potential local savior-owners may be starting to emerge for some of these papers. They care about their communities, and they want to save these imperiled journalistic institutions. It’s impossible not to root for their gaining control of as many of the papers as possible.

If you are one of these rescuers, I want to offer some free advice: as you soon as you get control, or even as a condition of doing so if possible, take the newspapers out of print, and go all-digital.

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