Jeff vonKaenel is the president, CEO and majority owner of the News & Review newspapers in Sacramento, Chico and Reno. If you heard a strange sound on Sunday when the Chatham announcement was made, it was much admired editor and publisher C.K. It is a sad day for Sacramento and McClatchyвЂ™s other 29 cities now that Chatham is the new owner of their proud and distinguished newspaper chain. Hopefully, Chatham will agree to sell McClatchyвЂ™s 30 papers to local buyers who actually do care about mission and do not make a mockery of journalism. Chatham does not care about The BeeвЂ™s mission. If Chatham founder Anthony Melchiorre shared McClatchyвЂ™s mission, he would not be having dinner with Donald Trump and David Pecker at the White House. They would have issued an apology for the damage that they have done to our republic and be praying that there is not an afterlife overseen by a righteous judgmental Supreme Being. No, if ChathamвЂ™s leaders understood McClatchyвЂ™s mission, the day after they took over American Media, they would have immediately fired National Enquirer publisher and head scoundrel David Pecker. I swear, if Forman said it was going to be a sunny day, I would start looking for my umbrella. Local journalism has never been more vital and we remain steadfast in our commitment to delivering on our mission and continuing to serve our communities.вЂќ McClatchyвЂ™s CEO and President Craig Forman is trying to portray this bankruptcy proceeding as business as usual during this difficult time, saying in a press release: вЂњWeвЂ™re pleased that Chatham and the supportive secured first-lien creditors believe in our business and our mission and are helping to achieve these goals. This is the hedge fund that owns most of American Media, the publisher of National Enquirer-yes, the same tabloid that paid a former Playboy model for her story about an alleged affair with Donald Trump, with the purpose of preventing it from ever being published, in order to help him win the presidency. It breaks my heart that the new owner of the McClatchy chain is Chatham Asset Management. Nevertheless, we were delighted to play ball. It should be noted that during The BeeвЂ™s glory years, it was like the New York Yankees while we were fielding our team with the revenue of a minor league team in a small town. Like opposing sports teams, the Bee and SN&R competed but loved the same game. I would be happy to publish the work of such skilled journalists. Great work is currently being produced by Cathie Anderson, Tony Bizjak, Marcos Breton, Dale Kasler, Ryan Lillis, Jack Ohman, Sam Stanton and others. Graswich, Tim Grieve, Stephen Magagnini, Andy Furillo and Fahizah Alim. Speaking as the owner of the News & Review, I have admiration for so many former Bee reporters and editors: Rick Rodriguez, Marjie Lundstrom, Dale Maharidge, R.E. Sure, we found fault with it at times, but it was a family disagreement. McClatchy and The Sacramento Bee were different, remarkably different. In Chico and Reno we also publish alternative weeklies, but in those cities we compete with newspapers owned by Media News and Gannett, two newspaper chains that may have been great at making money but not so good at providing solid local journalism. Sunday was a devastating day for Sacramento.ДЄfter 163 years of family ownership, the McClatchy Co., which publishes The Sacramento Bee and 29 other newspapers across the country, announced that Chatham Asset Management-a hedge fund that owns 80% of the company that publishes the National Enquirer-had made the winning bid to take over the bankrupt company.ДЇor the last 31 years until the COVID-19 pandemic suspended print publication, Sacramento News & Review has been producing a weekly newspaper as an alternative to our cityвЂ™s most powerful news source, the Bee. Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit Share on Pinterest The sale to Chatham Asset Management does not bode well for its future

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