Report: Sacramento Bee Publisher McClatchy On Brink Of Bankruptcy

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Sacramento's storied McClatchy Company, publishers of the Sacramento Bee, is on the brink of bankruptcy according to a Bloomberg business report.

Bloomberg reports the 162-year-old company could file for bankruptcy within the next year after the IRS denied a request to wave a required $124 million pension contribution.

Jeff Von Kaenel is the publisher of the weekly Sacramento News & Review, a competitor of the Bee, and an advocate for local journalism. He says Facebook and Google have stripped advertising revenue from traditional newspapers, and digital revenue for news outlets is still not making up the money lost in subscriptions and print ads.

"The problems that McClatchy and the Sacramento Bee are having aren't unique to them," Von Kaenel said. "We were many years able to keep the papers alive totally by advertising and I think we're going to have to go to a hybrid, of developing independent funds and support for journalism."

In recent years, McClatchy freed up millions in cash by selling its building to a real estate investment firm and leasing back its space. The company also sold its parking garage to a local developer. A massive midtown housing complex is under construction on the property now.

Bloomberg reports McClatchy has also "warned in regulatory documents that it may not be able to continue 'as a going concern.'"

Bloomberg reports McClatchy plans to stop publishing Saturday print editions for all its newspapers at some point next year. But last month, a McClatchy spokesperson said the Sacramento Bee will continue to print 7 days a week, for the foreseeable future.