McClatchy

History

Founding

On February 3, 1857, The Daily Bee was first published in Sacramento, California. A few months later James McClatchy succeeded Rollin Ridge as the paper's editor. McClatchy became a co-owner on February 12, 1866, and majority stock owner on June 26, 1872. At that time the firm's name was changed to McClatchy & Co. His son Charles K. McClatchy soon joined his father as junior partner, and succeeded him upon his death in 1883.

The company founded The Fresno Bee in 1922. Brother Valentine S. McClatchy was a company co-owner, but sold out in 1923. C.K. McClatchy bought the Sacramento Star from Scripps-Howard Newspapers and absorbed it into The Bee in February 1925. He also launched a Modesto edition of The Fresno Bee called the Modesto Bee in June 1925. The paper ceased after two weeks due to lack of subscriptions. In August 1927, McClatchy bought the News-Herald, and five years later it was renamed to The Modesto Bee. In 1933, McClatchy's son Carlos K. McClatchy, who was expected to eventually take over for his father, died of Influenza. At that time McClatchy's youngest daughter Eleanor McClatchy joined the business to be trained as his successor. In 1935, the Sacramento Bee won its first Pulitzer Prize. In 1936, C.K. McClatchy died. In 1938, V.S. McClatchy died.

Expansion

Eleanor McClatchy managed the company for the next four decades. In 1963, McClatchy acquired the television station KOVR in Stockton, California, from Metromedia. In 1978, Eleanor McClatchy retired. She died two years later. Charles K. McClatchy, son of Carlos K. McClatchy, then took over as president of McClatchy Newspapers. Under him, the company acquired the Anchorage Daily News in January 1979, sold KOVR to The Outlet Company for $65 million, then purchased the Tri-City Herald in October 1979, followed by the Tacoma News Tribune in 1986. The company went public to reduce debt in 1988, but the McClatchy family maintained 99% voting control of the corporation. C. K. McClatchy II died suddenly of a heart attack while out jogging in April 1989. He was succeeded by Erwin Potts, the first non-family member to lead the company.

In September 1989, McClatchy acquired three dailies in South Carolina from The News & Observer Company for $74.1 million. The sale included The Herald of Rock Hill, The Island Packet of Hilton Head, and The Beaufort Gazette of Beaufort. In August 1992, the Ellensburg Daily Record was acquired. In May 1995, McClatchy bought the rest of N&O Co., including The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina, for $373 million. In October 1996, the Daily Record was sold to Pioneer News Group. In November 1997, McClatchy agreed to purchase the Cowles Media Company for $1.4 billion. The sale was completed in March 1998. McClatchy kept the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and sold off two magazine and book publishing businesses owned by Cowles Media to PRIMEDIA for $200 million. In December 2003, McClatchy bought six newspapers in the San Joaquin Valley from Pacific-Sierra Publishing. The sale included the daily Merced Sun-Star and five non-dalies: Sierra Star of Oakhurst, Los Banos Enterprise, Chowchilla News, Atwater Signal and Livingston Chonicle.

Knight Ridder sale

In 2006, McClatchy purchased Knight Ridder for $4.5 billion and assumed $2 billion in debt. Due to the size difference, one observer equated the deal to "a dolphin swallowing a small whale." At that time Knight Ridder was the country's second largest newspaper chain and owned 32 dallies while McClatchy only owned 12 dallies. Due to antitrust concerns from the United States Department of Justice, McClatchy agreed to sell 12 former Knight Ridder papers for $2.078 billion. The San Jose Mercury and Contra Costa Times went to Bay Area News Group, co-owned by MediaNews. The St. Paul Pioneer Press and The Monterey County Herald went to Hearst Communications, who agreed to later resell them to MediaNews. The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News went to Philadelphia Media Holdings. The Akron Beacon Journal went to Black Press Media, The News-Sentinel went to Ogden Newspapers, the Duluth News Tribune went to Forum Communications Company, Aberdeen American News went to Schurz Communications. The Wilkes-Barre Times Leader was sold to private investors.

The Knight Ridder sale left McClatchy with a 15% stake in CareerBuilder, a 15% stake in ShopLocal and a 11.5% stake in Topix.net. In December 2006, McClatchy sold the Minneapolis Star Tribune, its largest newspaper at the time, for $530 million to private-equity firm Avista Capital Partners. Selling at a loss gave McClatchy a $160 million tax break.

Bankruptcy

Amid the Great Recession, McClatchy cut its workforce by 10% in 2008. Pruitt left the company in 2012 and was succeeded as CEO by Patrick Talamantes. In January 2017, Craig Forman was appointed as the new president and chief executive officer. In February 2019, Forman emailed all staff to say about 10% of the newspaper chain's employees would be offered voluntary buyouts.

On February 13, 2020, The McClatchy Company and 54 affiliated companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The company cited pension obligations and excessive debt as the primary reasons for the filing. The debt obtained from the Knight Ridder acquisition and the decision not to retain any of Knight Ridder's digital division or corporate staff, despite the growing prominence of the Internet and Knight Ridder having a well-respected effort in the space at the time, were cited as contributing factors in the bankruptcy. In August 2020, the Court approved an offer by Chatham Asset Management—a hedge fund that also owns a 66% share in Canadian publisher Postmedia—to acquire McClatchy for $312 million. The company stated that it would not impose any layoffs, and would honor all existing union agreements. Tony W. Hunter was named CEO.

Consolidation

In August 2022, McClatchy sold the Los Banos Enterprise. On July 11, 2023, McClatchy laid off the editorial cartoonists of three of its newspapers, Kevin Siers at The Charlotte Observer, Jack Ohman at The Sacramento Bee, and Joel Pett at the Lexington Herald-Leader. In November 2023, McClatchy sold its Charlotte printing plant to North State Media for $4.65 million. In March 2024, the company dropped its Associated Press wire service. In December 2024, McClatchy merged with A360media and was renamed to McClatchy Media. In May 2025, the company announced the magazines Closer, First for Women, In Touch and Life & Style will cease. In November 2025, the company closed its Washington, D.C. bureau.

Business ventures

DC Bureau

McClatchyDC was a news agency that distributed original reporting from McClatchy's Washington, D.C. bureau, which was acquired from Knight Ridder in 2006. It was the largest client of the McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. In 2008, McClatchy's bureau chief in D.C., John Walcott, was the first recipient of the I. F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence, awarded by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism. In November 2025, McClatchyDC ceased operations.

El Dorado Newspapers

In 1978, McClatchy formed El Dorado Newspapers, a subsidiary created to acquire and administer smaller newspapers in California. El Dorado acquired the Gilroy Dispatch in September 1978, The Morgan Hill Times in July 1979, Clovis Independent in October 1979, Lincoln News Messenger in May 1980, and Hollister Free Lance in January 1981. The Dispatch, Free Lance and The Times were operated under the name Gavilan Newspapers. In April 1989, El Dorado in one deal acquired the Amador Ledger, Amador Dispatch, Amador Progress-News and Amador Advertiser. The Ledger and Dispatch were then merged to form the Amador Ledger-Dispatch.

In September 1994, McClatchy sold the Lincoln News Messenger to Brehm Communications Inc. In October 1996, McClatchy announced it will sell the Amador Ledger-Dispatch, Hollister Free Lance, Morgan Hill Times and Gilroy Dispatch to USMedia Group, Inc. The Clovis Independent, the last paper to have operated under the El Dorado banner, ceased operations in June 2008.

Nando Media

Nando Media was an Internet subsidiary that provided business support and material for Internet media. McClatchy acquired it when it purchased The News & Observer Company in 1995. The Nando brand was abandoned and the unit was renamed to McClatchy Interactive in 2005. It was absorbed into the rest of McClatchy in 2015 and became the company's digital division.

Newswire

McClatchy inherited a partnership with the Tribune Company in the news service Knight Ridder-Tribune Information Services, renamed to McClatchy-Tribune Information Services, when it acquired Knight Ridder in 2006. Tribune bought out McClatchy's share of the company in 2014 and moved its headquarters to Chicago.

Ponderay Newsprint Mill

McClatchy was part of a consortium of five U.S. newspaper companies that, along with a Canadian forest products company, jointly owned the Ponderay Newsprint Mill near Spokane, Washington. The plant opened in 1989 and closed in 2020. A year later it sold for $18.1 million to a California-based venture capital company.

Criticism

On August 4, 2013, McClatchy Newspapers, citing anonymous sources, reported on conversations between Ayman al-Zawahiri, who succeeded Osama bin Laden as the head of Al Qaeda, and Nasser al-Wuhayshi, the head of the Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, discussing an alleged imminent terrorist attack. Two days previously, The New York Times had agreed to withhold the identities of the Al Qaeda leaders after US intelligence officials claimed the information could jeopardize their operations. Government analysts and officials interviewed by the Times said this disclosure caused more immediate damage to American counter-terrorism efforts than the thousands of classified documents disclosed by Edward Snowden; after the McClatchy publication, there was a sharp drop in the terrorists' use of a major communications channel that the authorities were monitoring. Subsequently, officials searched for new ways to monitor communications among Al Qaeda's leaders and operatives.

Dailies

Note: (*****)—Indicates newspaper acquired in 2006 Knight Ridder purchase.

• The Beaufort Gazette (Beaufort, South Carolina)
• Belleville News-Democrat (Belleville, Illinois)*
• The Bellingham Herald (Bellingham, Washington)*
• The Bradenton Herald (Bradenton, Florida)*
• Centre Daily Times (State College, Pennsylvania)*
• The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, North Carolina)*
• Ledger-Enquirer (Columbus, Georgia)*
• The Fresno Bee (Fresno, California)
• The Herald (Rock Hill, South Carolina)
• The Herald-Sun (Durham, North Carolina)
• The Idaho Statesman (Boise, Idaho)*
• The Island Packet (Hilton Head, South Carolina)
• The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Missouri)*
• Lexington Herald-Leader (Lexington, Kentucky)*
• Merced Sun-Star (Merced, California)
• Miami Herald (Miami, Florida)*
• El Nuevo Herald (Miami, Florida)*
• The Modesto Bee (Modesto, California)
• The News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina)
• The Olathe News (Olathe, Kansas)*
• The Olympian (Olympia, Washington)*
• The Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, California)
• Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, Texas)*
• The State (Columbia, South Carolina)*
• Sun Herald (Biloxi, Mississippi)*
• Sun News (Myrtle Beach, South Carolina)*
• The News Tribune (Tacoma, Washington)*
• The Telegraph (Macon) (Macon, Georgia)*
• The San Luis Obispo Tribune (San Luis Obispo, California)*
• The Wichita Eagle (Wichita, Kansas)
• Tri-City Herald (Kennewick, Washington)

Dailies acquired in Knight Ridder purchase, then sold

• Aberdeen American News (Aberdeen, South Dakota) (Completed June 27, 2006)
• Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio) (Completed August 2, 2006)
• Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, California) (Completed August 2, 2006)
• Duluth News Tribune (Duluth, Minnesota) (Completed June 27, 2006)
• Fort Wayne News-Sentinel (Fort Wayne, Indiana) (Completed June 27, 2006)
• Grand Forks Herald (Grand Forks, North Dakota) (Completed June 27, 2006)
• The Herald (Monterey, California) (Completed August 2, 2006)
• Philadelphia Daily News (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) (Completed June 29, 2006)
• The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) (Completed June 29, 2006)
• St. Paul Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minnesota) (Completed August 2, 2006)
• San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, California) (Completed August 2, 2006)
• Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) (Completed August 2, 2006)

Magazines

McClatchy acquired the following titles after merging with A360media in 2024.

• Closer
• First for Women
• In Touch
• Life & Style
• Us Weekly
• Woman's World

Formerly-owned stations

McClatchy Broadcasting was founded in 1936 when 4 radio stations in California merge to operate under one ownership. McClatchy sold its remaining 4 radio stations; KFBK and KAER to Group W, and KMJ and KNAX to Henry Broadcasting Co., in 1987.

• (******) indicates a station that was built and signed-on by McClatchy.

Television

This list does not include an unbuilt Channel 10 station in Sacramento, CA, which went to KBET-TV (now KXTV), owned by Sacramento Telecasters.

Radio

References

References

1. "McClatchy number of employees 2019".
2. "SEC FILING – McClatchy Form 10-K".
3. "Pulitzer Prizes".
4. "Finalist: Marisa Taylor, Jonathan Landay and Ali Watkins of McClatchy Newspapers".
5. (March 10, 1888). "A History Of The Bee. {{!}} The Various Hands Through Which It Has Passed". The Sacramento Bee.
6. (November 11, 1879). "Notice". The Sacramento Bee.
7. (November 2, 1883). "Death of James McClatchy". Chico Weekly Enterprise.
8. (October 17, 1922). "The Fresno Bee Publishes First Number To-Day". The Sacramento Bee.
9. (May 16, 1938). "Death Takes Valentine S. McClatchy {{!}} Former Part Owner of Sacramento And Fresno Bee Dies Suddenly". The Fresno Bee.
10. (February 7, 1925). "Notice Of Consolidation". The Sacramento Star.
11. (June 9, 1925). "New Daily Will Open on Monday In City Modesto {{!}} McClatchy of Fresno Bee Is Expanding, Says N.C. Baumunk". The Record.
12. (July 14, 1925). "Modesto Bee Is Suspended". Visalia Times-Delta.
13. (August 23, 1927). "Modesto News-Herald Bought by McClatchys". The Morning Press.
14. (July 29, 1933). "Modesto News-Herald Now Modesto Bee". Vallejo Evening News.
15. Silva, Jim. (April 1, 2022). "About Us". The Modesto Bee.
16. (January 18, 1933). "Carlos McClatchy's Death Mourned By Friends, Far NEar". The Sacramento Bee.
17. (October 18, 1980). "Eleanor McClatchy is Dead". The Sacramento Union.
18. (May 7, 1935). "Awards Are Made For Best Work In Literary, Journalistic Fields". News and Record.
19. (April 27, 1936). "The Life Of Charles K. McClatchy". The Sacramento Bee.
20. (October 4, 1963). "TV Station KOVR Sold to McClatchy". The Record.
21. McQuiston, John T.. (April 17, 1989). "Charles K. McClatchy, 62, Dies; Led Newspaper Company in West - New York Times". [[The New York Times]].
22. (January 18, 1979). "California Paper Chain Will Buy Daily News". Anchorage Times.
23. (July 6, 1979). "Eastern firm to buy McClatchy KOVR". The Modesto Bee.
24. (October 2, 1979). "McClatchy Buys Tri-City Herald". Anchorage Times.
25. (June 20, 1986). "New owners shake Tacoma newspaper". The Daily News.
26. Weil, Henry. (February 8, 1988). "McClatchy Newspapers Inc. wants cash to reduce debt". San Antonio Light.
27. Locke, Cathy. (May 18, 2017). "Erwin Potts, former journalist and chairman of McClatchy Co., dies at 85". The Sacramento Bee.
28. (September 26, 1989). "McClatchy purchases three South Carolina newspapers". Enterprise-Record.
29. (August 26, 1992). "McClatchy Buys Paper in Ellensburg, Wash.". The Fresno Bee.
30. Best, J. Ward. (May 18, 1995). "N&O confirms sale of paper to Calif. chain for $373M". The Herald-Sun.
31. (October 19, 1996). "McClatchy chain to sell Ellensburg Daily Record to Pioneer of Seattle". The News Tribune.
32. Endicott, William. (November 14, 1997). "McClatchy buys media company for $1.4 billion". The Fresno Bee.
33. (January 10, 1998). "COMPANY NEWS; PRIMEDIA IN DEAL WITH MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS". [[The New York Times]].
34. (December 6, 2003). "McClatchy buys Merced paper for $40.5 million". The Hanford Sentinel.
35. Seelye, Katharine Q.. (March 13, 2006). "Newspaper Chain Agrees to a Sale for $4.5 Billion". The New York Times.
36. Carey, Pete. (August 3, 2006). "Sales of 12 former Knight Ridder papers closed". Lexington Herald-Leader.
37. Yao, Deborah. (May 24, 2006). "McClatchy sells Philadelphia newspapers {{!}} Inquirer and Daily News net $562 million". Intelligencer Journal.
38. (June 13, 2006). "McClatchy releases sale prices of five former KR papers". Citizens' Voice.
39. Rubinkam, Michale. (June 27, 2006). "McClatchy sells last Knight Ridder paper {{!}} Wilkes-Barre's Times Leader sold to private investors.". The Evening Sun.
40. (December 28, 2006). "Paper sale gives McClatchy a tax break". The Wichita Eagle.
41. Kasler, Dale. (June 17, 2008). "McClatchy cuts workforce 10 percent". Fresno Bee.
42. (March 22, 2012). "McClatchy CEO Pruitt is leaving to lead AP". The Charlotte Observer.
43. (January 26, 2017). "Craig Forman New CEO of McClatchy Co.". [[ABC News (United States).
44. Strouse, Chuck. (2019-02-01). "McClatchy Follows BuzzFeed, Vice, and Others in Cutting Staff".
45. Ronalds-Hannon, Eliza. (2020-02-13). "Newspaper Chain McClatchy Files for Bankruptcy Protection".
46. "Publisher McClatchy Co. Files For Bankruptcy, Disrupting 30 Newspapers". [[NPR]].
47. (13 February 2020). "Newspaper Publisher McClatchy Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy". The Wall Street Journal.
48. Telford, Taylor. (February 13, 2020). "Newspaper giant McClatchy files for bankruptcy, hobbled by debt and declining print revenue". The Washington Post.
49. Tracy, Marc. (2020-08-04). "McClatchy, Family-Run News Chain, Goes to Hedge Fund in Bankruptcy Sale". The New York Times.
50. Flynn, Kerry. (2020-08-03). "Another hedge fund is sweeping up newspapers. This time, journalists are cautiously optimistic".
51. Hall, Kevin G.. (August 7, 2020). "Chatham names former Tribune executive as new CEO, says it will keep McClatchy name". McClatchyDC.
52. Payton, Allen D.. (2022-08-24). "Introducing the new owner of the Los Banos Enterprise".
53. Cavna, Michael. (July 12, 2023). "Three Pulitzer-winning cartoonists let go in one shocking day". [[The Washington Post]].
54. Mildenberg, David. (2023-09-14). "NC publisher buys press from McClatchy".
55. Bauder, David. (March 19, 2024). "Gannett, McClatchy news chains say they will stop using Associated Press content". The Associated Press.
56. Wilner, Michael. (December 13, 2024). "Completing merger, 'McClatchy Media' forms with lifestyle brands and greater reach".
57. Gardner, Chris. (2025-05-30). "In Touch, Life & Style, Closer and First for Women Magazines to Shutter, Lay Off Entire Staffs".
58. "Latest National, World & Political News - McClatchy Washington Bureau".
59. (May 8, 2014). "Tribune buys out McClatchy's stake in MCT newswire". Poynter.
60. (April 7, 2016). "Reuters Adds John Walcott as Foreign Affairs and National Security Editor". AdWeek.
61. Walcott, John. (October 9, 2008). "John Walcott: Truth is not subjective". McClatchy Newspapers.
62. Darcy, Oliver. (November 4, 2025). "McClatchy's Quiet Cuts".
63. (2025-11-07). "An exit from DC".
64. (October 11, 1988). "A proud tradition of McClatchy publishing". Free Lance.
65. (August 22, 1978). "Gilroy Dispatch Sale Announced". Santa Cruz Sentinel.
66. (July 11, 1979). "McClatchy Unit Buys Newspaper". The Sacramento Bee.
67. (October 3, 1979). "McClatchy buys Clovis Paper". The Fresno Bee.
68. (May 1, 1980). "McClatchy buys paper". The Press-Tribune.
69. (January 1, 1981). "Partners to print Hollister paper". The Modesto Bee.
70. Terhaar, Joyce. (April 27, 1989). "McClatchy execs take new titles". The Fresno Bee.
71. (1902-04-18). "Amador Ledger Archive".
72. (September 1, 1994). "Brehm publisher buys Messenger {{!}} Parent company of Auburn Journal assumes ownership role today". Lincoln News Messenger.
73. Nax, Stanford. (October 19, 1996). "McClatchy Newspapers sells 4 of its publications". The Fresno Bee.
74. Lippert, Patti J.. (June 27, 2008). "Thanks for the memories {{!}} The Clovis Independent proudly captures your way of life for 103 years". The Fresno Bee.
75. "McClatchy Interactive".
76. (2024-12-16). "McClatchy completes merger with accelerate360".
77. (2020-07-06). "McClatchy, a Family Newspaper Business, Heads Toward Hedge-Fund Ownership (Published 2020)".
78. (February 28, 2005). "It's Goodbye to Nando; Hello to McClatchy Interactive".
79. (February 12, 2015). "McClatchy plans reorganization as it emphasizes digital publishing".
80. Seelye, Katharine Q.. (2006-03-12). "Knight Ridder Newspaper Chain Agrees to Sale". [[The New York Times]].
81. Crompton, Kim. (February 26, 1997). "Ponderay Newsprint might get new operator".
82. Sokol, Chad. (June 30, 2020). "Ponderay Newsprint mill closure involves 148 permanent layoffs, state says".
83. Clouse, Thomas. (April 29, 2021). "California venture capital company outbids Kalispel Tribe for Ponderay Newsprint mill in Usk".
84. (September 29, 2013). "Qaeda Plot Leak Has Undermined U.S. Intelligence". [[The New York Times]].
85. (March 14, 1936). "New Company Is Formed For Bee Radio Stations". The Fresno Bee.
86. J. Alcott, Martha. (October 9, 1987). "Group W grabs reins at KFBK, KAER". The Sacramento Bee.
87. Larson, Larry. (July 9, 1987). "Bay area firm will buy KMJ, KNAX: Final agreement subject to review, regulatory approval". The Fresno Bee.