Free Republic

McClatchy Newspapers is the alleged “news” organization that runs terrorist propaganda out of Iraq as legitimate news. It’s Washington editor tried very hard to push local McClatchy reporters in North Carolina to write damaging stories on Blackwater. It hired anonymous Iraqis during the Iraq War to write lots of unverifiable stories about the horrors of American soldiers. Today, in another example of its bias, its national news feed runs the headline Who’s running the TSA? No one, thanks to Sen. Jim DeMint. Compare that to the Washington Post, which ran the identical story with the headline “Republican senator DeMint holds...

The Ledger-Enquirer will require nearly half of its employees to take a week off without pay beginning Sept. 6, said Valerie Canepa, the newspaper’s publisher, on Wednesday. The mandatory furloughs impact 88 of 174 employees — including the newsroom — and will run through Dec. 12. Exempt are advertising sales employees, most production workers and the staff of The Bayonet, a publication that focuses on Fort Benning. The furloughs come with the newspaper industry nationwide under financial pressure from the severe recession and print readers migrating to the Web for news. “We have an excellent newspaper and a building full...

Here's the truth: 'Birther' claims are just plain nuts By Steven Thomma | McClatchy Newspapers WASHINGTON — The false allegation that President Barack Obama was born in another country is more than a fact-free hit job. Marked by accusations and backstabbing, it's the story of how a small but intense movement called "birthers" rose from a handful of people prone to seeing conspiracies, aided by the Internet, magnified without evidence by eager radio and cable TV hosts, and eventually ratified by a small group of Republican politicians working to keep the story alive on the floors of Congress and the...

Newspaper publisher McClatchy Co. is scheduled to report its second-quarter results before the stock market opens Tuesday. The following is a summary of key developments and analyst opinion related to the period. OVERVIEW: Hardly anything has gone right during the past few years for the owner of The Miami Herald and 29 other daily newspapers. The hard-luck theme is unlikely to change in the Sacramento-based company's second-quarter earnings report. With the newspaper advertising market in ruins, another loss seems certain. As the losses mount, the chances of a bankruptcy filing rises. That's because McClatchy is saddled with $2 billion in...

People for the American Way, the left-wing smear machine, is (In the words of McClatchy press service) quietly targeting Frank Ricci, the Connecticut firefighter whose successful lawsuit for racial discrimination has proven to be so inconvenient for Judge Sotomayor. Specifically, People for the American Way, along with other such drive-by hit artists, is urging reporters to scrutinize Ricci's allegedly "troubled and litigious work history." So far, the lefty blogosphere, at least, has taken up the call. Ricci is on the list of witnesses Republican Senators will call at Sotomayor's confirmation hearing. But does this make his "litigious work history" an...

Below are excerpts of e-mails, obtained by The State newspaper in December, between Gov. Mark Sanford and Maria, a woman in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The State has removed the woman’s full name and other personal details, including her address, e-mail address and children’s name. Sanford’s office Wednesday did not dispute the authenticity of the emails. McClatchy special correspondent Angeles Mase visited the 14-story apartment building in Buenos Aires Wednesday where the woman lives, according to the emails, which included her address. The woman at the address answered to the name in the emails and, at first, agreed to speak to...

Propaganda is described in many ways, but one of those has got to be the kneejerk reliance and subsequent marketing of half quotes as whole truths. A half quote is a half truth, and this poor excuse for honest, factually accurate information is no doubt why newspapers are failing, and why their writers are fleeing to the Obama Administration for PR employment as spinmeisters. Take for example this article: WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Dick Cheney's defense Thursday of the Bush administration's policies for interrogating suspected terrorists contained omissions, exaggerations and misstatements. In his address to the American Enterprise Institute,...

Would anybody at the ailing McClatchy Newspapers care to point out to us even the slightest hint of neutrality in the reporting of two correspondents for that chain, Jonathan S. Landay and Warren P. Strobel, on former Vice President Dick Cheney's speech yesterday about terrorism? You sort of get the idea where these two are coming from just by reading the title of their report: "Cheney's speech contained omissions, misstatements." And in case you still haven't figured out their biases, Landay and Strobel hammer it home again in the first paragraph: WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Dick Cheney's defense Thursday...

April 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI - News) today reported a net loss from continuing operations in the first quarter of 2009 of $37.7 million, or 45 cents per share. Adjusted for certain items, (1) the loss from continuing operations was $22.9 million, or 28 cents. Net loss from continuing operations in the first quarter of 2008 was $993,000, or one cent per share. Adjusted for certain items, (1) earnings from continuing operations were $2.8 million, or three cents in the first quarter of 2008. Revenues from continuing operations in the first quarter of 2009 were $365.6...

Talk about a divorced from reality headline! Check out this McClatchy Newspapers headline: "Liberal TV Host Rachel Maddow Works for Civility." The article itself, dateline Los Angeles by Rick Bentley, follows the lead of its fawning headline: MSNBC boasts Maddow has become the network's first program to beat CNN talker Larry King in more than a dozen years. Maddow had been hosting her own show for just over four months when she sat down to talk at the Universal Hilton. This wasn't a chat about politics. It's all about her. Stand by now for the money quote and please put...

Talk about finding new and creative ways to insult subscribers... The Kansas City Star plans to charge subscribers an extra 25 cents a week if they want to continue getting the paper's TV supplement, according to an announcement published in the KC Star this week.How bad are things at the Kansas City Star these days? So bad that the newspaper is now going to charge customers 25 cents extra each week if they want its flimsy, 12-page StarTV section that has been included in its Sunday paper for years.Home delivery customers will no longer receive the section after April 5...

U.S. newspaper publisher McClatchy said on Monday it would cut 1,600 jobs, or about 15 percent of its workforce, in an attempt to deal with the faltering economy and a decline in advertising revenue.

McClatchy Co. will cut 1,600 jobs, or 15% of its work force, and cut salaries, including for its chief executive, as the company looks to save money and navigate through what it called "an increasingly poor national economic environment. Last month, the ailing newspaper publisher had announced plans to cut costs by up to another $110 million, but it didn't provide any details. The latest job cuts come on top of a plan announced in September to cut 10% of its work force to save $100 million annually. As with other newspaper companies, McClatchy is suffering as readers and advertisers...

Star-Telegram Publisher Gary Wortel announced today that because of "unprecedented revenue declines due to the economic recession," the paper would be reducing its work force by about 12 percent and enact a wage cut. In a memo to employees, Wortel said the reductions would occur in virtually all areas of the paper's operations. In addition to involuntary layoffs, he said a voluntary buyout plan is being offered to many of the more than 1,000 workers. The Star-Telegram reduced its work force by about 18 percent last year through voluntary buyouts, layoffs, attrition and outsourcing. The paper also reduced expenses by...

Newspaper giant McClatchy, which owns 49.5 percent of the voting stock in the Seattle Times Co., is now valuing that position as worthless. In the latest 10K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, McClatchy says the Seattle Times Co. in 2008 "recorded a comprehensive loss related to its retirement plan liabilities." As a result, says McClatchy, "the Company’s investment in STC at December 28, 2008 is zero, and no future income or losses from STC will be recorded until the Company’s carrying value is restored through future earnings by STC. Accordingly, no significant income or losses are expected to...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Newspaper publisher McClatchy Co. reported a $21.7 million loss for the fourth quarter on Thursday, reflecting the declining value of its newspapers, and said it plans deep cost cuts this year. McClatchy, which publishes The Miami Herald, The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee and other newspapers, wouldn't say how much, if any, of the $100 million to $110 million in cuts would come from layoffs. The company said plans were still being completed. The company, which already has imposed a companywide wage freeze through September, said it also would freeze pension plans and suspend matches to its 401(k)...

he McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI - News) today reported a net loss from continuing operations in the fourth quarter of 2008 of $20.4 million, or 25 cents per share, including a pre-tax non-cash impairment charge of $59.6 million related to newspaper mastheads. Adjusted earnings from continuing operations(1) were $21.8 million, or 26 cents per share, in the fourth quarter of 2008 after excluding several unusual items discussed below. Total net loss including discontinued operations was $21.7 million, or 26 cents per share in the 2008 fourth quarter. snip For the fourth quarter of 2007, the company reported an after-tax loss...

McClatchy to pay 1Q dividend but suspend quarterly dividend after that to conserve cash SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- McClatchy Co., the nation's third-largest newspaper publisher, said Tuesday it is suspending its quarterly dividend after paying out its dividend for the first quarter of 2009 so it can save up cash to repay its debts. The publisher of papers such as The Miami Herald and The Sacramento Bee said it declared a quarterly cash dividend of 9 cents payable on April 1 to shareholders of record on March 11. But the company said in a news release that after that, the...

The late Mr. Blackwell could have gotten a job as a political reporter for McClatchy newspapers. Should you doubt this assessment, then check out this McClatchy newspapers report about Barack Obama written by Halimah Abdullah which was described by McClatchy Watch as sounding like a cross between GQ and Teen magazine. A video showing Obama "Yes We Can" power ties was even included at the top of the story. You won't find a trace of political analysis in the story by this political reporter but it is chock full of fashion: WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama radiates a certain stylistic...

The McClatchy publishing company is more and more beginning to resemble an isolated bunker in the final stages of Götterdämmerung as ugly reality, such as their 99% stock price plunge, closes in on both fronts. Inside the bunker a leader is screaming madly, conjuring up phantom armies to ward off the unpleasant facts facing his company. However, in this case their ranting leader in the bunker isn't McClatchy CEO Gary Pruitt who is probably already quietly contemplating his permanent exile with his surfboard off the coast of Satellite Beach but Howard Weaver (photo), the outgoing VP of News at that...

Employees of McClatchy publishing in Iraq were in an unually good mood recently. The occasion was the aftermath of the Iraqi journalist who tossed his shoes at President Bush at a press conference in Baghdad as you can see in these quotes from Inside Iraq, a blog for McClatchy journalists working in that country: Some of the guys were happy and they were talking about the bravery of the journalist who threw his shoes at the American president. When I tried to explain my opinion, I was trying to tell the guys that I don't agree with the way the...

Remember Baghdad Bob? He was the Iraqi press spokesmen who caused much amusement in the West because of his unrealistically upbeat pronouncements when Iraq was invaded by the United States and its allies in 2003. Among Baghdad Bob's funnier announcements was his declaration that no Americans were in Baghdad at the same moment when American troops were patrolling the streets of that city just a few hundred yards from where he was holding that press conference. Well, the newspaper industry has its own Baghdad Bob in the form of McClatchy CEO, Gary Pruitt, who in early 2007 gave his own...

The McClatchy Co., burdened by debt and a steep slide in newspaper advertising, wants to sell one of its most prized properties, The Miami Herald, according to people briefed on the company's plans. McClatchy, the nation's third-largest newspaper chain, has approached potential buyers for The Herald, said these people. But they said they knew of no serious offers for the paper, reflecting the evaporation of major investors' interest in buying newspapers. The company refused to discuss the matter. Elaine Lintecum, the treasurer, said, "We do not comment on market rumors."

October provided no relief for The McClatchy Co., with the nation's third-largest newspaper company reporting Wednesday that consolidated revenues dropped 17.8% in the month compared to a year ago on advertising that slipped 20.4%. The month was an essential re-run of steep ad revenue fall-off the chain has been reporting month after month this year. Classified ad revenue, for instance, dropped 35.8% on continuing precipitous drops in the most important categories. Employment was down 48.6% for the month, real estate down 41.5%, and automotive down 30.5%. Retail ad revenue fell 11%, and national was off 13.9%. There was one bright...

I love this stuff. The free market is such an unforgiving mistress. McClatchy publishes about 30 newspapers around the country, including The Miami Herald, The Charlotte Observer, The Kansas City Star, and The Sacramento Bee. And while they will blame falling circulation on the internet, they also happen to be card-carrying members of the liberal MSM. It is amazing how suicidal these left-wing media types are. More . . .

Today I posted an article by David Lightman of McClatchy Newspapers entitled Hate-filled Attacks on Obama... and wrote the author a email asking when I could expect a article outlining the attacks of the left on Bush, McCain and Pallen? Well he wrote back and asked for proof. Can Freepers help with well documented stories? Thanks.

The McClatchy Company today reported net income from continuing operations in the third quarter of 2008 of $4.2 million, or five cents per share. Adjusted earnings from continuing operations(1) were $10.4 million, or 13 cents per share, in the third quarter of 2008 after excluding the unusual items discussed below. The company's total net income including discontinued operations was $4.2 million or five cents per share. Earnings in the third quarter of 2008 included the impact of several unusual items including: an adjustment to the second quarter gain on the sale of a one-third interest in SP Newsprint Company; a...

Federal Reserve Board data show that: _ More than 84 percent of the subprime mortgages in 2006 were issued by private lending institutions. _ Private firms made nearly 83 percent of the subprime loans to low- and moderate-income borrowers that year. _ Only one of the top 25 subprime lenders in 2006 was directly subject to the housing law that's being lambasted by conservative critics.

The McClatchy Co., facing falling revenue and profit, renegotiated its bank loans Friday to win greater financial flexibility. While the company says it's in no danger of defaulting or missing a debt payment, it was seeking greater latitude from its lenders. "The impact of the current environment on our cash flows necessitated taking the initiative," Chief Financial Officer Pat Talamantes said in a news release. But the agreement comes at a price. The Bee's owner will have to pay a higher interest rate. Its line of credit has been scaled back. And it could be prohibited from paying any shareholder...

The McClatchy Co. has slashed its work force by 20 percent, cut its shareholder dividend in half – and might have to trim some more. In its 151st year, The Bee's parent and America's third-largest newspaper chain is facing "the biggest challenge in the company's modern history," said Gary Pruitt, McClatchy's chairman and chief executive officer. Like practically every chain, McClatchy is struggling with a media revolution. Its newspapers, where it still makes most of its money, are losing ground to the Internet, though its combined newspaper-online readership is growing. But because of the insanely competitive nature of the Web,...

You... yes, you reading this right now. McClatchy wants you to know you are mean to them, your mistrust of them is merely egged on by a sly political tactic, and you fall for it because you only get your news from an "ideologically tailored" source. In other words, they are telling you that you are misinformed, mean-spirited, easily led... well, they are telling you that you are stupid. And then they wonder why people don't trust them! In "McCain campaign systematically targets the news media," McClatchy writers Steven Thomma and Margaret Talev decided to try and explain why...

Palin considers herself a born-again conservative Christian. She supports teaching creationism in public schools, outlawing nearly all abortions (even in cases of rape or incest) and prohibiting same-sex marriage. But she has yet to advance legislation that insists that creationism, or "intelligent design," be taught in public school science classes whenever biological evolution is taught -- as urged by a plank in the official Alaska Republican Party platform. Nor has she tried so far to eliminate standard sex-education classes in public schools in favor of the abstinence-only programs she prefers. That Palin hasn't yet pushed a religious conservative agenda isn't...

Shares of The McClatchy Co. dropped almost 6 percent in early-morning trading Wednesday, after the newspaper publisher announced another month of disappointing revenue. The Sacramento-based company — publisher of The Sacramento Bee, The Miami Herald and 28 other daily newspapers — reported $167.8 million in revenue last month, a 16.4 percent decline from the $200.7 million for the same quarter a year ago. Advertising revenue plummeted 19.3 percent to $136.8 million from a year ago. Classified advertising, especially for employment and real estate, tumbled 29.5 percent from a year ago, while national ad sales plunged 20.2 percent for the same...

The Lexington Herald-Leader on Monday offered a voluntary buyout program to its full-time employees. Noting that the newspaper industry's traditional business model is undergoing dramatic change, Publisher Timothy M. Kelly said in a memo to employees that “the economy continues to worsen, and we must make the painful choice to reduce expenses further.” Kelly said it is premature to set a target for the number of buyouts or to say whether layoffs will follow if a certain number of employees fail to leave voluntarily. “We may limit the number of voluntary applications we accept given business needs or to ensure...

First person: Embedded with Iraqi army, where saluting is optional

Scandal? What scandal?The efforts by the mainstream media to pretend that there is no scandal hanging over John Edwards can cause some rather comical reporting. One such case was a report by Stephanie Davis of McClatchy Interactive which appeared in the San Luis Obispo Tribune. Ms Davis was analyzing the backgrounds of various political figures considered to be possible running mates with Barack Obama including John Edwards: John Edwards: Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards finds himself in a very familiar position: Will he be picked once again as a running mate for the next Democratic presidential candidate? Edwards, who ran...

Newspaper publisher McClatchy Co (MNI.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reported a more than 40 percent drop in quarterly profit on Thursday as advertising revenue plunged, but shares shot up 5 percent after the company said it still will be able to pay its debt. The results, along with EW Scripps Co (SSP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Lee Enterprises Inc (LEE.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) which also reported financial results on Thursday, are the latest sign that a weak economy and fundamental changes in how people get their news continue to hammer U.S. newspaper publishers. McClatchy, publisher...

The word first popped up in a big way in the 2004 election to explain John Kerry's flip-flops on the issues. See, according to the liberals when a Democrat flip-flops it is really a matter of perception. He hasn't really changed his views since they are "nuanced." And if we think he has flip-flopped that is only because we yahoos just aren't enlightened enough to understand the  complicated "nuance." This word has been resurrected again by McClatchy writer,  Margaret Talev, to explain Barack Obama's recent flip-flops. Talev does a good job explaining why some of us unenlightened types might perceive Obama's recent...

It's hurricane season for Florida's newspaper industry. Florida, with its track record of booming growth and a strong consumer economy, has long been a haven for journalistic excellence and huge profits for newspapers. But now a miserable economy, fueled by the collapse in the housing market, is gripping the state. Newspaper advertising revenues in Florida have fallen more than in most other places, even as the industry wrestles with the bigger and longer-term structural upheaval ushered in by the Internet. That is leading to layoffs at newspaper companies around the state. On Monday, The Miami Herald unveiled plans to cut...

The 1,400 McClatchy Co. employees targeted for layoffs can blame their job loss on the faltering newspaper economy in general, their company's specific concentration of papers in California and Florida where the housing collapse has been most acute -- and a forward-looking strategy once hailed as a way to avoid precisely this kind of pain. When McClatchy borrowed heavily to buy Knight Ridder Inc. in 2006, it was following a strategy that Wall Street and other industry observers said made perfect sense for newspaper chains: grow top-line revenue through acquisitions funded by cheap credit. McClatchy added its own spin --...

The McClatchy Company, owner of The News Tribune, announced today that it plans to reduce its workforce by 10 percent – or 1,400 full-time employees. The third largest newspaper company in the country has seen its advertising revenue decline by 15.4 percent in the first five months of the year. And until now, the company has relied on attrition and eliminating jobs through outsourcing to manage its staff size. “I’m sorry this requires the painful announcement we are making today, but we’re taking action to help ensure a healthy future for our company,” said McClatchy CEO Gary Pruitt. As part...

McClatchy Co. plans to cut its work force by about 10% amid a difficult advertising market as the media company reported a 15% drop in May revenues, hurt by a 17% drop in advertising sales. Chief Executive Gary Pruitt said, "The effects of the current national economic downturn -- particularly in real estate, auto and employment advertising -- make it essential that we move faster now to realign our workforce and make our operations more efficient." He apologized for making "the painful announcement," but added, "We're taking this action to help ensure a healthy future for our company." The move...

The McClatchy Co., battered by declining profits and revenue, announced a 10 percent companywide cut in its workforce Monday, including the Sacramento publisher's first-ever across-the-board layoffs. The decision will eliminate 1,400 jobs through a combination of layoffs, voluntary departures and attrition. The Bee announced it will eliminate 86 jobs, 46 by layoffs. The reduction will trim the paper's work force by 8.1 percent. McClatchy, publisher of The Bee, has prided itself on avoiding across-the-board layoffs even as it has used buyouts and attrition to cut its head count by 13 percent since April 2006. But with the company struggling and...

Hammered by the same financial problems facing newspapers across the country, The Miami Herald announced it plans to reduce its workforce by 250 full-time employees -- 17 percent of its staff. Publisher David Landsberg said the reduction includes 190 full-time and part-time employees being laid off, plus the elimination of other open positions, because of dramatic reductions in revenue. ''This is a painful but necessary step,'' Landsberg wrote in an e-mail to employees. ``We're operating in a time of great change and challenge for our operations.'' The Herald is owned by McClatchy, the third-largest newspaper company in the country. The...

Released: 06/16/2008 SACRAMENTO, Calif., June 16 -- The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI) announced today that it plans to reduce its workforce by about 10% as the company accelerates efforts to manage through today's difficult advertising market and position itself for future success in an increasingly competitive environment. "We have been transitioning steadily and successfully from a traditional newspaper company to an integrated multimedia company for some time," said McClatchy CEO Gary Pruitt. "The effects of the current national economic downturn -- particularly in real estate, auto and employment advertising -- make it essential that we move faster now to realign...

The Star-Telegram plans to sell its four-story downtown annex building and an adjacent surface parking lot, as well as two other downtown parking lots. The decision is part of the newspaper’s efforts to reduce costs, said Chet Wakefield, senior vice president of operations. “We’re trying to get more efficient in our operations,” Wakefield said. “We pay quite a bit to maintain the annex building. It is our intent to sell it.” The listing will include the 75-space parking lot adjacent to the 30,000-square-foot building, a 22-space lot near Texas and Taylor streets, and a 66-space lot at Monroe and Texas...

The McClatchy Co. on Wednesday became the latest newspaper chain to report weak April results, disclosing that overall revenue fell 14.6% compared to April 2007 on steep drops in real estate and help-wanted classified. Advertising revenue dropped 14.8% for the month. For the year so far, McClatchy said, total revenue is down 14%, and ad revenue has fallen 15.2%. The one bright spot is online ad revenue, which jumped 14.3% in April, and is up 11.6% in the first four months of 2008. McClatchy gets nearly a third of its total ad revenue from its newspapers in Florida and California,...

The Kansas City Star named Mike Fannin as editor on Thursday. Fannin succeeds Mark Zieman, who was named as the newspaper's president and publisher on March 6. The Star's parent company, McClatchy Co. (NYSE: MNI), promoted Zieman after the departure of former publisher Mac Tulley in January to take a job with MediaNews Group Inc. In an interview Friday, Fannin said the paper will take steps to reduce its employee count, which could include layoffs and buyout offers. He said that it's too early to know how many jobs will be cut or when it will occur but that "probably...

McClatchy News -- the paper chain that likes to claim they speak "truth to power" -- is pleased to show us "another side" to the Iran backed Iraqi militia leader Muqtada al Sadr and that other side is his supposed "charity work." It has been a common tactic of Muslim warlords and other terrorists to pretend at "charity" as they plan suicide bombings and targeted terror attacks among the very people they pretend to be helping with their "charity." The so-called charity is but a screen to hide their terror activities behind, a salve to keep the locals from getting...

The Lexington Herald-Leader is looking to trim its staff of 385 full-time employees by 4 percent through a voluntary buyout program. A statement released by the Herald-Leader said there is no set number of employees it hopes will take the buyout, nor has the paper released information publicly or to its staff as to what the eligibility requirements are. "…our business models are changing," a statement emailed by Herald-Leader Publisher Tim Kelly said. "We plan to continue our focus on both our print newspaper as well as Kentucky.com. At the same time, we plan to pay attention to our current...