Wishful thinking

Lets say you were one of the two guys who recently won the big lottery. You have a journalism background, and you know buying a newspaper isn't the greatest investment in the world. Still, you want to buy a newspaper (I'm not talking New York Times). You are targeting a decent-sized paper that is owned by a large chain and is being bled to death by the chain. You believe that with local ownership and no longer having to feed the chain, the paper could be successful. Which paper would you target?

 

Somewhere in the Midwest, where newspapers still seem viable to some degree. And I know, "newspapers still seem viable" is a bit of an oxymoron.

 

A large chain wouldn't sell a paper that is making money.

 

That means there are plenty for sale.

 

Depends on how you define making money. Most papers are still "making money," they're just not making enough money.

 

One of the guys I work with and I talked about this.
Our paper is a chain of weeklies in the southern half of the state, which is all but ignored by the state's big paper. A mid-sized daily would work wonders if the right person came in and tried to take control. You'd be eating cash for the few few years, but I think it could be profitable because people are dying for local news and the area is perfect for it.

 

with all the money in winning the lottery, you're better off buying a press and starting from scratch. Most newspapers are buried in debt. You buy the newspaper, you inherit the debt that goes with it. You'd be wasting your money paying off that debt and pretty much burning your capital.
Don't buy an existing paper. It's like buying a used car. Not worth the headache, especially when you can make a brand new product.

 

What about buying the naming rights from a paper when a big chain shuts it down? You get some of the credibility from the brand without the debt, then start fresh.

 

Mine, actually. Although it still might be profitable so our shitty debt ridden chain probably wouldn't sell. And while I have no idea what the sticker price for a newspaper is I would think it would take just a small chunk of that much money.