The Capistrano Insider

Patch: Capistrano Councilman Reeves Appeared to Have Plagerized in Blogs

Councilman Derek Reeve, in the news for asking that Capsitrano lift its ban on guns in parks and for offending other city leaders and Muslims by announcing he'd named his dog "Muhammad," appears to have plagerized dozens of passages in blogs he wrote for the website Patch, the site is reporting.

Reeve was a voluntary columnist for the website, but stopped writing after Patch asked about the columns and passages that appeared to be taken word-for-word from the works of others without attribution.

Patch says Reeve initially told them he'd been careless in confusing his notes and writing, but then stopped responding to the site's calls for explaination.

An attorney, Reeve teaches at two local colleges, one of which contends plagerism -- intentionally or unintentionally --  is a very serious offense.

See the full post at www.sanjuancapistrano.patch.com

Sales Talks Breakdown for OC Register's Parent Company

Freedom Communications, which owns the OC Register and related weekly papers here as well as publications and television stations across the country, have broken down, according to reports. The various reports say MediaNews, a huge chain, was in talks to buy Freedom, which it valued at $700 million.

Freedom came out of bankruptcy last year and now controllled by creditors. MediaNews has a reputation as a cost-cutting, financial tight-ship.

See the story here.

I didn't see the story in the Register ...



More Thoughts on Who Might Ultimately Own the OC Register -- and Everything Else?

This from a blog of a retired newspaper exec and journalism professor ...

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Bid duel likely for Orange County Register

A bidding war appears to be shaping up for the Orange County Register, where the winner could emerge as the dominant player in a series of consolidations that eventually puts the major dailies in Southern California in the hands of a single owner.

The leading bidders in what is likely to be a small but vigorous duel for the Register are MediaNews Group, which operates the neighboring Los Angeles Newspaper Group (LANG), and the Tribune Co., the owner of the nearby Los Angeles Times.

Each of the neighboring publishers is widely known to covet the crown jewel of Freedom Communications, a sprawling media company put on the block by the distressed-debt investors who gained control of it in 2010 as it emerged from bankruptcy.

See the whole post here.

Some Insight into Who Might Own the Register...

This from a media blog:

Platinum is run by Tom Gores, who is worth a reported $2.2 billion. A similar company, Gores Group, is run by his brother Alec, who is worth $1.6 billion… The brothers failed in a joint attempt to buy Miramax and Platinum failed trying to buy the Boston Globe and Business Week Magazine.

[San Diego Reader reporter] Bauer wonders what might happen to the Union-Tribune if brother Alec is successful in a bid for Freedom Communications, owner of the Orange County Register. A consolidation perhaps?

***

Here's the entire post ...

Ho Hum, The Register is For Sale, Really ...

From the Wall Street Journal:

Final bids are due this week in the auction of Freedom Communications Inc. as several private-equity firms and media companies circle the publisher of the Orange County Register, said people familiar with the matter.

Bids for assets of the Irvine, Calif., media company, which owns the Register as well as other newspapers and local television stations, are due Thursday, the people said. Possible bidders include Denver Post publisher MediaNews Group Inc.; Tribune Co.; Gores Group; and Platinum Equity, owner of the San Diego Union Tribune, these people said.

Freedom, which emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy-court protection last April, is giving bidders several options. Suitors can make offers for the entire company or they can separately bid on Freedom's eight television stations, its more than 100 daily and weekly newspapers or the Register alone.

Locally, of course, the Register publishes the Capistrano Valley News.

Click here for the entire story.