Bush Buddy, William Dean Singleton, buys up almost all Bay Area newspapers

The Hearst Corp. of New York, publisher of The Chronicle, would provide financial backing for the transaction in exchange for a minority ownership stake in MediaNews newspaper operations outside the Bay Area, the companies said Wednesday. The deal would give MediaNews and its CEO, William Dean Singleton, a commanding presence in the region.

The company owns nine Bay Area papers, including the Oakland Tribune, the Marin Independent Journal and others in Alameda, San Mateo and Solano counties, with a combined daily circulation of 300,000 as well as two local weeklies. Adding the Mercury News, with a daily circulation of 274,000 and the Contra Costa Times, with 185,000, plus an assortment of Knight Ridder local weeklies, would give MediaNews a combined circulation of well over 700,000 and a dominant footprint in six counties.

More
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/04/27/SINGLETON.TMP

Media News Group wants to merge and acquire. So much so that they started buying up properties before the laws changed because they were so sure they would change. They buy up multiple properties in the same market and have shown a growing tendency towards secrecy in their holdings. Media News Group influences legislation so that they can continue to merge and acquire. They have the son of the Bush Administration's former Secretary of State to thank for changes in laws that allow them to grow. Continued mergers and acquisitions give Media News Group control over advertising rates and public opinion/dissemination of information in major markets. Their continued long term growth depends on continued relaxation of laws regarding cross ownership of media properties. Media News Group supported George W. Bush for President.

Media news group has initiated a near total blackout on coverage of the election fraud issue, an issue that could potentially remove the republicans from office, thereby resulting in the election of a government less friendly to loosening of FCC cross ownership law, severely hampering their ability to merge, acquire and thus grow. This could force them to divest themselves of properties, limit their ability to control advertising rates and information, destroy their growth potential. That is, if fraud where proven and the elections invalidated.

More
http://denvervoice.org/features/Nov_2004/who_is_the_denver_post.htm

APRIL 29, 2002

WILLIAM DEAN SINGLETON IS THE NEW CHAIRMAN OF NAA

Officers, new Board members elected at newspaper association’s annual convention

New Orleans – William Dean Singleton, vice chairman and CEO of MediaNews Group Inc., Denver, was elected chairman of the Newspaper Association of America at the Association’s annual meeting. The meeting and election took place during NAA’s Annual Convention, being held April 28-May 1 at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside.

More
http://www.naa.org/Global/PressCenter/2002/WILLIAM-DEAN-SINGLETON-IS-THE-NEW-CHAIRMAN-OF-NAA.aspx?lg=naaorg

See Also
The Evolution of Dean Singleton
http://www.cjr.org/issues/2003/2/dean-sherman.asp
Survival of the fittest - William Dean Singleton
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BDW/is_18_42/ai_74358805