The Gamblers, the Philanthropists, and the Folks Left Holding the Bag of Gelt

(MoneyWatch)  Since all I have to offer tonight is a grab bag of sorts, let's put the best light on it, shall we, and call it a Christmas stocking, hung thick with gelt.

Okay, so I mixed my religious metaphors, we could all do a lot worse, I suspect, than getting a stocking full of chocolate candy this holiday season, when so many of our colleagues are receiving pink slips, buyouts, severance packages, or just the old, "Sorry, but clear out your stuff and leave the office by 5."

Was it really just four years ago, in December 2004, when the proud old McClatchy (MNI) newspaper chain, was trading for over $70 a share? Yes it was, as reporter Melanie Turner pointed out yesterday. Whereas today, MNI closed at $0.75, that's right -- three quarters a share. Perhaps no other media company serves as a better poster boy for this year's newspaper industry catastrophe than McClatchy, which owns the Sacramento Bee, the Miami Herald, and 28 other dailies.

McClatchy's fatal error, of course, was purchasing many of its newspapers from the Knight-Ridder chain, which got out of the newspaper business around two-and-a-half years ago with an alacrity that in hindsight seems downright precsient. Now, the Knight Foundation is busy giving money to entrepreneurs, including one of the alternative weeklies profiled here last week, the Voice of San Diego, hoping to help save the dying industry it so recently abandoned.

Ah, the ironies...

Meanwhile, I could hardly fail to notice that the top story playing on our Media Industry page tonight is titled: Can Tribune Co. Survive Bankruptcy? What odd timing. As those smart bloggers over at Editor & Publisher noted today, Tribune is doing quite well since securing bankruptcy protection, thank you, as its debt has risen from trading levels as low as 19 cents three weeks ago to a robust $2/security today! With that kind of rapid appreciation, Sam Zell may yet reclaim his reputation as a saavy businessman, after all.

After all, as the singer tells it,

"You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em.
Know when to walk away, and know when to run..."