In a recent editorial, we suggested U-T San Diego owner\/publisher Doug “Papa” Manchester, who has been gobbling up local independent newspaper publications like corn flakes, had his own \u2014 and not print journalism\u2019s \u2014 best interests in mind.
\nIn noting that there\u2019s a “battle for freedom and independence going on” in the local print-journalism industry, we intimated that Manchester\u2019s machinations were more land grab than altruistic acquisition.
\nWe suggested that what Manchester is doing in the short-term \u2014attempting to buy out his competition \u2014 is bound to be detrimental to the print journalism industry in the long run. We think his try-and-buy approach will ultimately turn into cut-and-run.
\nIn truth, the Manchester “era” in local journalism could come to an unexpectedly quick end.
\nIn San Diego, word on the business street, now rebounding among a number of daily publishers around the country, is that the ownership of the San Diego Union-Tribune, renamed U-T San Diego, wants out.
\nRumor has it that “Papa Doug” wants to sell and that he\u2019s directed U-T CEO John Lynch (who has publicly been talking about wanting to purchase more papers) to find a buyer.
\nWe know Manchester is working on plans to redevelop U-T\u2019s existing Mission Valley headquarters site, creating an estimated $200 million, pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use project offering residential, office and retail in twin towers with 200 residences, a parking garage with a rooftop swimming pool, a gym and tennis courts and a San Diego River trail.
\nThis sounds like the “Papa Doug” Manchester we all know, not the wannabe newspaper publisher but the real estate baron credited with being the driving force behind development of the San Diego Convention Center, the man who made his fortune building some of San Diego\u2019s tallest hotels and office buildings.
\nWhy is Papa Doug\u00a0interested in acquiring print publications losing money in a troubled industry during rapidly changing times?
\nCould it be he\u2019s not actually interested in improving the print product or moving it forward but, rather, making a quick buck on the real-estate end before moving on?
\nNoting that the current print journalism trend has been toward national markets with a global audience, many industry experts are now saying the print industry is due for a reversal, that increases in the next five to ten years will be local. They also are pointing out that the local digital opportunity is “real,” while cautioning that advances on that front will be a slog fit only for those in it for the long and not the short term.
\nSomething tells us Papa Doug\u2019s not a long-termer. We think he\u2019s already getting indigestion from the debt he\u2019s absorbed appeasing his appetite for print. Our hunch is, once the U-T headquarters redevelopment is done and over with, Papa Doug will collect his profits, divest himself of debt (print), and move on to his next “project.”
\n— San Diego Community Newspaper Group<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In a recent editorial, we suggested U-T San Diego owner\/publisher Doug “Papa” Manchester, who has been gobbling up local independent newspaper publications like corn flakes, had his own \u2014 and not print journalism\u2019s \u2014 best interests in mind. In noting that there\u2019s a “battle for freedom and independence going on” in the local print-journalism industry, […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":270583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11561","_seopress_titles_title":"Has U-T's Papa Doug lost his appetite for print?","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[12360,11552,11561],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-270584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-duplicate","category-opinion","category-peninsula-beacon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}