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Several Big U.S. Cities Could Be without Daily Newspapers by 2010, Says Rating Agency

Fitch Ratings, which provides ratings on various investments, said this week that several cities could be without daily print newspapers by 2010. Fitch rates the bonds of both McClatchy and Tribune as junk. Fitch expects newspaper defaults and closures in 2009. The rating agency is negative on media in general, but most downbeat on newspapers. Today (Dec. 4), E.W. Scripps put the Rocky Mountain News and its 50 percent stake in the Denver Newspaper Agency up for sale. The owner of the other half of the agency is MediaNews, owned by William Dean Singleton, who has been rumored to be a candidate to buy the Union-Tribune, although he, too, is very deeply in debt. Scripps says that its half of the Denver Newspaper Agency cash flow is no longer enough to support the Rocky Mountain News -- a blow for Singleton and his Post. Landmark Communications yesterday pulled the Norfolk Virginia-Pilot off the market. Cox is still trying to sell papers including the one in Austin, Texas. Stock of GateHouse Media, which bought Copley Press's Midwest papers in 2007, wound up today at 8 cents today. It was around $17 at the time of the transaction. The money for that deal was forwarded by Fortress Investment Group, which then controlled more than half of GateHouse. Fortress has fallen on hard times. After it suspended redemptions in a hedge fund, its stock fell to $1.89. Stock of heavily-indebted Lee Enterprises, which owns the North County Times, closed at 60 cents today. Copley Press put the U-T up for sale in July.

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Fitch Ratings, which provides ratings on various investments, said this week that several cities could be without daily print newspapers by 2010. Fitch rates the bonds of both McClatchy and Tribune as junk. Fitch expects newspaper defaults and closures in 2009. The rating agency is negative on media in general, but most downbeat on newspapers. Today (Dec. 4), E.W. Scripps put the Rocky Mountain News and its 50 percent stake in the Denver Newspaper Agency up for sale. The owner of the other half of the agency is MediaNews, owned by William Dean Singleton, who has been rumored to be a candidate to buy the Union-Tribune, although he, too, is very deeply in debt. Scripps says that its half of the Denver Newspaper Agency cash flow is no longer enough to support the Rocky Mountain News -- a blow for Singleton and his Post. Landmark Communications yesterday pulled the Norfolk Virginia-Pilot off the market. Cox is still trying to sell papers including the one in Austin, Texas. Stock of GateHouse Media, which bought Copley Press's Midwest papers in 2007, wound up today at 8 cents today. It was around $17 at the time of the transaction. The money for that deal was forwarded by Fortress Investment Group, which then controlled more than half of GateHouse. Fortress has fallen on hard times. After it suspended redemptions in a hedge fund, its stock fell to $1.89. Stock of heavily-indebted Lee Enterprises, which owns the North County Times, closed at 60 cents today. Copley Press put the U-T up for sale in July.

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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