The Scranton Times-Tribune was recently sold by Times-Shamrock Communications to national publishing company MediaNews Group, a subsidiary of a hedge fund.
According to a news story published in The Times-Tribune, the sale also includes the Citizens’ Voice of Wilkes-Barre, the Standard-Speaker of Hazleton and the Republican Herald of Pottsville, as well as commercial printing operations and all of Times-Shamrock’s weekly and periodic newspapers.
Times-Shamrock Communications CEO Jim Lewandowski announced the sale during a Zoom meeting with the entire staff.
The sale, however, “does not include Times-Shamrock’s radio or billboard operations, or the Scranton Times Building at 149 Penn Ave., Scranton,” the story explained.
The story also noted MediaNews Group is a Colorado-based company owned by Alden Global Capital, a hedge fund that has been buying newspapers nationwide.
“For more than a decade, we’ve watched large companies and hedge funds purchase family-owned newspapers, and in many instances, we’ve seen the devastating effect,” said Sarah Hofius Hall, a Times-Tribune staff writer, and union president of News Guild Local 177, Communication Workers of America. Hofius Hall made her remarks in a recent press statement.
According to its website, Media News Group owns more than 160 local news publications.
Julie Sidoni, News Director of WVIA, explained the potential consequences of a lack of local reporters in an interview with The Wood Word.
“The decisions that are affecting your life, your wallet, your paycheck, your children, everything, those are happening at the most local of levels, school boards, township supervisors, commissioners, and what’s happening when news organizations don’t have the people to staff those meetings, so many of those decisions are happening completely unchecked,” Sidoni said.
Sidoni voiced discontent with the sale.
“I was really sad to hear about the Times, honestly. These are colleagues of mine, who are doing great work. It’s not good for anybody for something like that to happen,” she explained.
It is unclear at this time how the sale will affect staffing at The Times-Tribune, but according to the Times-Tribune news story, MediaNews Group said it is offering jobs “to virtually all of the employees, except for a few crossover team members who serve both print and radio.”
About these job offers, Hofius Hall said, “We appreciate Media News Group’s commitment to honoring our current labor agreements and vow to do our part to continue to produce an award-winning community newspaper.”
The Lynnet family, which founded Times-Shamrock, shared a statement via Facebook expressing their sadness about the end of local ownership. The statement also emphasized the importance of local watchdogs and adequately staffed newsrooms.
“They [newspapers] are the only true local watchdog with a large newsroom and resources capable of providing in-depth, verified news and investigative reporting on a large scale in any community,” said the statement.
The post also explained The Times-Tribune was owned by the Lynett family for 128 years.
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