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Martin Moylan
St. Paul, Minn.

Pioneer Press owner Digital First Media considers selling papers

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The Pioneer Press building in downtown St. Paul
The Pioneer Press building in downtown St. Paul, Minn.
Jeffrey Thompson/ MPR News

Digital First Media, owner of the St. Paul Pioneer Press and scores of other newspapers across the country, said Friday it is evaluating "strategic alternatives" that could mean selling its papers.

The company, currently the country's second largest newspaper chain by circulation, hired UBS Securities to serve as financial adviser to review its future.

Company officials cautioned nothing is final.

"Strategic alternatives, what does that mean exactly? Well, it could mean we decide to sell the company. Or sell parts of it. Or expand it. Or stay the course," Digital First chief executive John Paton said in a blog post Friday.

Digital First was formed through the December 2013 merger of Media News Group, which had run the Pioneer Press, and the former Journal Register Co.

Digital First and its majority owner, Alden Global Capital have signaled for months that changes were coming, industry observers say.

In April, Digital First pulled the plug on its Project Thunderdome, an effort to create big digital offerings that could be used by all its newspapers, which include the San Jose Mercury News, Denver Post, and Los Angeles Daily News.

Industry analyst and former Pioneer Press managing editor Ken Doctor said then that the Thunderdome closing "signals the fatigue of majority DFM owner Alden Global Capital -- and that it is readying its newspaper properties for sale."

Pioneer Press reporter and union leader Dave Orrick said Friday that a sale has long been expected.

"It was inevitable," he said. "Hedge funds don't buy properties to hold on to them in perpetuity. So, it's not surprising that they're now officially for sale. But it matters that they're putting the word out there."

The union representing newsroom employees hopes a local buyer will emerge for the paper, someone who, the union says, "cares about the community and will be a responsible steward." The union accuses the hedge fund of "dismantling" the newspaper to increase profits.

Newsroom staffing at the Pioneer Press is down about 60 percent from the 2001 peak.