Steve Ringhoff is a freelance writer. View more of his work at A Little Long Form Journalism. Did you “sense” it, like Obi Wan recognizing the great disturbance in the force, as McClatchy, that family owned newspaper chain whose 30 newsrooms included the Modesto Bee, changed hands Friday? There was no big ceremony like a symbolic handover of a huge key as has been pictured in thousands of newspaper photos over […]
Modesto Bee
WALL STREETIN’ McCLATCHY: Will debt bury the Bee?
Steve Ringhoff’s Modesto Explained presents local investigative journalism on a range of subjects. Here, Steve offers an insider’s look at the McClatchy corporation’s precarious debt load and what it might mean to the future of its newspapers. Reprinted with permission. Do the 19 or so descendants of the founders of The McClatchy Company—whose media empire includes The Modesto Bee—feel the hot breath of a hedge fund wolf on the backs […]
Did the New Editor Admit the Bee Has Been Serving Empty Calories?
Among the most noteworthy items in Joseph Kieta’s April 28 debut column were the new Bee editor’s promises to deliver, “a sharper focus for the printed newspaper. It needs to be more local. And it needs to focus on the ‘why’ and ‘how.’” Kieta also told readers to expect more journalism that doesn’t, “pull punches.” For some, Kieta’s promises amounted to an admission of journalistic weaknesses many Bee readers have […]