Los Angeles Times Parent Company Buys San Diego UT Newspaper
by Chris Jennewein
SAN DIEGO (SDONA) — The U-T San Diego newspaper was sold Thursday to Tribune Publishing, owner of the Los Angeles Times, for $85 million.
The sale was announced in a breaking-news email alert from the San Diego newspaper. It ends 146 years of private ownership of the newspaper.
The U-T’s current owner, “Papa” Doug Manchester, would retain ownership of the company’s Mission Valley property, where he is seeking city approval to build 200 luxury apartments. The U-T would operate under a short-term lease.
Austin Beutner, the Times’ publisher and chief executive, will hold those posts at both companies after the deal closes. He said the U-T would continue to operate as a separate brand with a separate newsroom.
U-T President and Editor Jeff Light will remain with the company. He was quoted as saying the combination of the two newspapers creates a unique opportunity. “The business opportunity, and the journalistic opportunity, is very big,” he said.
It has been reported for about a year that Manchester has been looking to sell San Diego’s major daily newspaper, and Tribune has emerged as the most likely buyer.
Manchester, a real estate developer and hotel owner, purchased the paper four years ago. He later acquired the North County Times and a group of community newspapers and folded them into U-T San Diego operations.
Chris Jennewein is the editor of the Times of San Diego which, along with The Moderate Voice, is a member of the San Diego Online News Association (SDONA). This article is reprinted from that website.