McClatchy’s Puget Sound-area papers would eclipse No. 2 P-I’s circulation.

Published 9:00 pm Monday, March 13, 2006

The McClatchy Co.’s proposed purchase of newspaper publisher Knight Ridder Inc. would give the new owner control of three Puget Sound newspapers along with a half-share of The Seattle Times.

Having The News Tribune of Tacoma, The Bellingham Herald and The Olympian under one corporate umbrella would create an attractive vehicle for advertisers, said John Irby, the associate director of undergraduate studies at Washington State University’s Murrow School of Communication.

But it’s not clear, Irby added, what it means for the already-complicated newspaper ownership battle in Seattle, where The Seattle Times Co. is trying to end the joint operating agreement between it and Seattle Post-Intelligencer owners Hearst Corp.

Around Puget Sound, McClatchy already owns the 120,000-circulation News Tribune – Washington’s third-largest paper – along with weeklies in Gig Harbor and Puyallup. Knight-Ridder recently acquired the 34,000-circulation Olympia paper and the 24,000-circulation Bellingham paper in a trade with Gannett Corp.

Combining all those papers would give McClatchy a Puget Sound newspaper group with a circulation greater than that of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the state’s No. 2 paper.

“If you look at it from a straight business standpoint, there are some economies from an advertising standpoint,” Irby said. “There would be some group advertising sales or group advertising buys.”

At the same time, McClatchy has a reputation for good journalism, he said.

“The kind of newspapers that they put out are going to be high quality,” Irby said. “McClatchy has always done it first rate.”

But in acquiring Knight Ridder, McClatchy also has bought into the unresolved fight between the owners of Seattle’s two daily papers.

Knight Ridder owns 49.5 percent of The Times, which is trying to break its agreement with Hearst under which The Times controls printing, distribution and ad sales for both newspapers in return for a larger share of the two papers’ profits.

Hearst says its Post-Intelligencer won’t survive without the joint operating agreement, and has sued to block The Times’ move.

McClatchy already has announced plans to sell 12 of Knight Ridder’s 32 papers, but it has not discussed plans for its share of The Times. A call to McClatchy headquarters was not returned Monday.

“It’s an interesting situation,” Irby said. “My guess is they (McClatchy) will hold onto it.”

Reporter Bryan Corliss: 425-339-3454 or corliss@heraldnet.com.