Union-Tribune Editor Karin Winner broke the news of the newspaper’s sale to the newsroom around 11 a.m. today.
“She looked delighted,” said one newsroom staffer.
“[Winner’s] first words were ‘This is terrific news,’” said the staffer. Winner made a point of saying that a sale is not the way it has ended for other newspapers this year, referring to the closure of the Rocky Mountain News in Denver in February and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer going online only this week and announcing that it would cut nearly 90 percent of its newsroom staff.
When asked whether she will be staying on as editor, Winner said: “I don’t know.” She also said she was not made privy to the final sale price.
The sale brought mixed reaction from employees. Some are optimistic, others concerned.
“There hasn’t been any leadership, we’ve had an absentee owner for a long time, now someone’s going to come in and try some new things,” one employee said. “I think that makes people cautiously optimistic.”
Another was worried about being purchased by an equity firm with no history of running a newspaper. But that person still had cause for optimism. “It’s better than just hanging on with (David) Copley,” said the staffer.