February 10, 202025ontheirhometown paper.Asprivate equity
andhedgefundinvestorsgainedcontrolofthe
business,Buffettoncestoodoutassomeonewho
believedinthemissionofnewspapersandhadthe
wealthtoinvestina potentialturnaround.Andhe
wasfamousforhispatience—inthepast,he’ssaid
he’s“reluctant”tosellevensubparbusinesses.“If
oneoftherichestmenontheplanethassouredon
newspapers,whatchancedonewspapers have?”
wrote Tom Jones, a media writer at the Poynter
Institute, a journalism school and research center.
Buffett’s days as a newspaper baron began five
decades ago with his acquisition of the Omaha Sun.
Over the years, the billionaire investor argued that
despite circulation and advertising declines, local
newspapers still had some advantages. “If you wanttoknowwhat’sgoingoninyourtown—whetherthe
newsisaboutthemayorortaxesorhighschool
football—there is no substitute for a local newspa-
per that is doing its job,” he wrote in a shareholder
letter released in 2013.
But as readers flocked to the internet, his com-
ments grew increasingly pessimistic. His publica-
tions started cutting jobs. In 2012, Berkshire shut
down the News & Messenger, based in Manassas,
Va. About two years ago, Buffett said he was sur-
prised that the circulation decline hadn’t let up.
His business partner, Charlie Munger, suggested
their emotions might have clouded their judg-
ment. “The decline was faster than we thought
it was going to be, so it was not our finest bit of
economic prediction,” Munger said at BerkshireStreet
Have for Newspapers? ▼FiftytopU.S.
newspapers*
●100%ownedby
a hedgefund
●32%hedgefund-
owned
●23%hedgefund-
owned
●6%hedgefund-
owned**
●Recently acquired in
a dealfinancedby
a privateequityfirm
●Ownedbya billionaire
businessman
●Family-owned
●Other ownership
PHOTOGRAPHS BY JANELLE JONES FOR BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK; PROP STYLIST: JENNY WICHMAN. *2018 PEW ANALYSIS OF ALLIANCE FOR AUDITED MEDIA AND COMSCORE REPORTS. **A HEDGE FUND-CONTROLLED FIRM OWNS 6% OF LEE ENTERPRISES, WHICH OWNS OR IS ACQUIRING THESE PAPERS. DATA: COMPANY REPORTS, NEWS REPORTS