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Read all over With 11 large daily papers, and 13 non-daily papers serving small communities, the McClatchy newspaper empire has stakes in Alaska, California, the Carolinas, Washington, and, as of 1998, in Minnesota. The publisher boasts a combined average circulation of 1.35 million daily and 1.8 million on Sundays. Needless to say, the company is fast outgrowing its California roots. Former reporter James McClatchy founded The Sacramento Bee in 1857 and expanded his publishing apiary to include The Modesto and Fresno Bees. In the late 70s, McClatchy entered into the Northwest region, snatching up Alaska's Anchorage Daily News, and Washington State's Tri-City Herald and The News Tribune. In 1990, McClatchy added three newspapers in the Carolinas -- The Herald in Rock Hill, The Island Packet on Hilton Head Island, and The Beaufort Gazette. It made a major purchase in 1995, acquiring The News & Obsever in Raleigh, North Carolina, which is now its third-largest newspaper. In 1998, the company bought Minnesota-based Cowles Media (which has since renamed itself after its flagship newspaper, the Star Tribune) for a generous $1.4 billion. Cowles and McClatchy agreed to sell off Cowles' non-newspaper businesses for $208 million, and retain the Star Tribune Company as a subsidiary. With a circulation of nearly 400,000, the Star Tribune is now McClatchy's largest newspaper. With the acquisition, the publisher has vaulted to the number eight spot in readership size. A family affair McClatchy Newspapers has passed through five generations of McClatchys; the family owns 80 percent of the company's voting stock. McClatchy Newspaper's parent company, The McClatchy Company, also owns Legi-Tech, an online legislative tracking service, the Newspaper Network, a line of preprinted advertising inserts, online newspaper Nando.net, and is a major investor in StreamSearch.com. Although flatly denied by McClatchy, the company could be a prime target of larger publishing companies. Both the Tribune Company, recent buyers of Times Mirror, and Gannett Co., which just purchased Central Newspapers, are said to be interested. It remains to be seen though, whether this family affair will allow outsiders in on the family recipe.
Visit the 'Employment Opportunities' section of the McClatchy web site for details on job openings and contact information, or call the McClatchy job hotline. Send or fax resumes to human resources. Insiders say that for aspiring journalists, their best bet to get hired is at one of McClatchy's smaller properties. "The biggest drawback to working for McClatchy is that people are generally not as mobile as in some companies," a source says. "They tend to stay around in their present positions longer, so openings don't occur as often. There may be some exceptions from one department or newspaper to another, but this is generally the case." One editor recommends "Fresno or Modesto are the best properties for someone just starting out."
Letting others do the hemorraging Employees call McClatchy "a people-oriented" newspaper with a "corporate conscience." While there is "still plenty of the pressure," which is the norm for the newspaper industry, this pressure "tends to be self-directed out of a desire to excel, rather than being external pressure from overbearing management." Although McClatchy lets its employees have "plenty of room to be creative, to take risks and make mistakes," McClatchy management tends to be risk-averse. Says an insider: "McClatchy is not a 'bleeding edge' company when it comes to investing in new ventures. They generally like to let others 'hemorrhage money' on a project, and then invest in it when it has proven that it will work." Good beneftis, solid record on diversity Our contacts laud the benefits at McClatchy, which is as "likely as not to have the best benefits of any paper in a particular area." These benefits include "a good stock purchase program, and 401K program that includes company matching." There is no 'ironclad dress code,' but "everyone is expected to look and act in a professional manner." Its treatment of women and minorities is 'progressive'- with "strong diversity goals, despite a significant relaxing of pressure from the State of California." Says an insider: "I recall several cases where women were elevated to positions as publishers and executive editors, as well as minorities who have been on the sat track. Two of our publishers are African-Americans." A source concludes: "While I have found some that would pay more, I have not seen that any can offer the kind of work environment that would cause me to want to leave McClatchy."
Human Resources
Advance Publications;Gannett;Knight Ridder;New York Times Co.;Times Mirror More Company Profiles For more career information, go to Vault.com ©2000, Vault.com Inc
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