The Mercury News may be up for Sale!

There's been reports in the news lately that a large chunk of Knight-Ridder News' shareholders are strongarming the management team of Knight-Ridder into offering the company up for sale. As you probably know, Knight-Ridder is the parent company of the San Jose Mercury News. They also own community based local dailies like the Los Gatos Daily News, Palo Alto Daily News, San Mateo Daily News, Redwood City Daily News, and the Burlingame Daily News

I personally find this to be some very scary news. While Knight-Ridder isn't exactly a home grown Silicon Valley organization, it's headquartered in San Jose and they've given their home territory preferential treatment in their history. For example, the San Jose Mercury News made it online long before it became the industry standard for papers to publish an online version. It was through AOL instead of the web. I bought an AOL subscription in 1994 so I could pick up on news back home while I was going to school in Boston.

Now there's rumors circulating of prospective buyers from far out of state as potential suitors for the Knight-Ridder company or a piece of it.

Pressured, Knight Ridder Ponders Sale of Company

As a Bay Area native, the Merc has always been near and dear to my heart. This doesn't sound good. But I can't imagine the paper being more homogenized as we're in the Valley. It's an anomoly that deserves a unique newspaper.

Well, it's official now. Knight-Ridder is for sale.

Yeah, my friend's sibling and her husband work at the Merc. They've been offering people packages. Do you have a new link, Sheldon?

Did they get SOLD already?!?

It is sold.

Who bought it?