Tuesday, January 01, 2008
CHARGING: In St. Paul, Singleton says "industry solution" needed
"Long term, we've got to get paid for news (online) or we can't keep producing
it," he said. But he said that has to be an industry-wide solution and not just
one paper acting alone.
ORIGINAL URL (no longer active):
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/business/14446579.htm
Posted on Fri, Apr. 28, 2006
No major changes, new owner tells Pioneer Press
BY JOHN WELBES
St. Paul [Minn.] Pioneer Press
The fate of the Pioneer Press became a little clearer Thursday as William Dean Singleton said the newspaper won't see major changes after his company becomes its owner sometime this summer.
"You're joining us because we want you," Singleton, the CEO of MediaNews Group Inc., told employees packed into a stifling conference room. "We think there's a lot of opportunity here, and if we didn't want it, we wouldn't have bought it."
His arrival at the Pioneer Press followed the announcement Wednesday of a four-paper acquisition by MediaNews, which is based in Denver. Singleton's company, teaming with Hearst Corp., is buying the St. Paul paper and three California papers in a complicated $1 billion deal.
Singleton said he and the top people at his newspapers are trying to craft the best strategy for growth on the Internet side of the business.
"Long term, we've got to get paid for news (online) or we can't keep producing it," he said. But he said that has to be an industry-wide solution and not just one paper acting alone.
John Welbes can be reached at jwelbes@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-2175.
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