The San Diego Union-Tribune sold to Alden Global Capital – The San Diego Union-Tribune
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Los Angeles billionaire Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong has sold The San Diego Union-Tribune and the U-T Community Press newspapers, including this newspaper, to MediaNews Group for an undisclosed amount.
Denver-based MediaNews Group is owned by Alden Global Capital, which owns roughly 200 publications, including the Chicago Tribune. Alden is the second-largest newspaper publisher in the country, behind Gannett, which owns USA Today and other papers.
MediaNews Group is the parent company of the Southern California News Group papers. among them the Orange County Register, Los Angeles Daily News, Riverside Press-Enterprise, Long Beach Press-Telegram, San Gabriel Valley Tribune and Pasadena Star-News.
An email memo July 10 to employees of the Union-Tribune, which includes the Poway News Chieftain and Rancho Bernardo News Journal, said the Soon-Shiong family “made a good-faith effort to rebuild and support both news organizations. We hope this change now will position both the L.A. Times and San Diego Union-Tribune to succeed. The ongoing work of transforming the L.A. Times into a self-sustaining institution will be our focus, as we believe that Los Angeles needs and deserves a strong, independent news organization.”
In a subsequent email to Union-Tribune employees from MediaNews Group, Sharon Ryan, the company’s executive vice president for California, said cutbacks will be needed to “offset the slowdown in revenues as economic headwinds continue to impact the media industry.”
An effort will be made, she said, to find efficiencies in business operations, distribution and production “while striving to support and prioritize the robust local newsgathering needed to serve the communities that rely on the Union-Tribune for excellence in journalism.”
Staff was notified that the new owner is offering buyouts through Monday, July 17. If the company does not “reach a sufficient number of employees” taking buyouts, “the company will lay off additional employees,” the staff was informed. It wasn’t immediately known how deep the potential cuts could be.
The Union-Tribune employs a total of 220 in the company, with 108 in the newsroom.
Responding to the announcement, Union-Tribune Editor and Publisher Jeff Light said: “I’m grateful to the Soon-Shiong family, who were good owners. Now it’s time to start another chapter. As our staff knows, this isn’t an easy business, but I have a lot of confidence in the future of the Union-Tribune.”
The newspaper industry in general has had to navigate increasingly difficult times as advertising and subscription revenue has declined and newsroom staffing has contracted.
The Union-Tribune, which has gone through several ownership changes, was sold to Platinum Equity in 2009, then to Douglas Manchester in 2012 and then to Tribune Publishing, which later became Tronc, in 2015, before its sale to Soon-Shiong in 2018.
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Lori Weisberg covers the tourism and hospitality industry, writing extensively about San Diego County hotels; restaurants; cruise ships; visitor attractions; air travel; and the convention center. A Southern California native and graduate of UCLA, she joined The San Diego Union-Tribune in 1980 and over the years has been awarded a number of fellowships in specialty reporting, multimedia and social media. She has regularly produced multimedia packages for the paper’s website and is able to shoot and edit video. Before joining the newspaper, she worked at the Vista Press and the Orange County Register.
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