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In an interview today (July 27) in the Globe and Mail, the national Canadian paper, David Black, investor and adviser in Platinum Equity's purchase of the Union-Tribune, looks to a no-frills editorial future for the U-T. "Mr. Black and Platinum don't have dreams of editorial expansion [for the U-T]," says the paper. "Mr. Black's papers are mostly of the decidedly no-frill variety, and, in one example, there are no plans to resurrect the Union-Tribune's Washington bureau, which was shuttered last year," says the Globe and Mail. "In a perfect world, you have bureaus in several places, but that perfect world isn't going to happen, I don't believe, where you have money to burn in editorial," the Globe and Mail quotes Black saying. He said that he sees a future for advertising by furniture stores and auto dealerships when the economy comes back.
Black is in the U-T deal as a private investor. His company, Black Press, has made several acquisitions, including the Akron Beacon-Journal. The company bought the paper in 2006 for $165 million and slashed the editorial staff by 25 percent. Black says it is making money, but he had to take a $100 million writedown on the investment. At the time, Torstar, parent of the Toronto Star, had a 19.4% stake in Black Press. After the writedown, Torstar reduced the value of that stake to zero.
In an interview today (July 27) in the Globe and Mail, the national Canadian paper, David Black, investor and adviser in Platinum Equity's purchase of the Union-Tribune, looks to a no-frills editorial future for the U-T. "Mr. Black and Platinum don't have dreams of editorial expansion [for the U-T]," says the paper. "Mr. Black's papers are mostly of the decidedly no-frill variety, and, in one example, there are no plans to resurrect the Union-Tribune's Washington bureau, which was shuttered last year," says the Globe and Mail. "In a perfect world, you have bureaus in several places, but that perfect world isn't going to happen, I don't believe, where you have money to burn in editorial," the Globe and Mail quotes Black saying. He said that he sees a future for advertising by furniture stores and auto dealerships when the economy comes back.
Black is in the U-T deal as a private investor. His company, Black Press, has made several acquisitions, including the Akron Beacon-Journal. The company bought the paper in 2006 for $165 million and slashed the editorial staff by 25 percent. Black says it is making money, but he had to take a $100 million writedown on the investment. At the time, Torstar, parent of the Toronto Star, had a 19.4% stake in Black Press. After the writedown, Torstar reduced the value of that stake to zero.