A Times article about Aaron Kushner stepping down from his leadership role at Freedom Communications, publisher of the Orange County Register, reports:
John A. Catsimatidis, the billionaire owner of the Gristedes supermarket chain, is considering making a bid for The Daily News in New York. There have been rumors that James L. Dolan, the billionaire owner of the New York Knicks, may also be interested.
They might look across the country for a cautionary tale. In 2012, Aaron Kushner paid about $50 million, plus the assumption of $110 million in pension obligations, for The Orange County Register, a venerable publication that was once among the most read newspapers in California.
First of all, "rumors" is a pretty low standard for the Times passing along news. Isn't the job of these reporters and editors to check out the rumors and find out if there is any factual basis for them before passing them along to the readers? Isn't that why we subscribers pay the money? If we just wanted rumors, we could read some other paper.
Second of all, the statement in the article that "Aaron Kushner paid about $50 million" for the Register is inaccurate. The buyer was a company called 2100 Trust, LLC, in which Mr. Kushner was only one of several owners.