73 - It Tolls for Bee (7.14.2020)

It's official: A New Jersey hedge fund has the winning bid for McClatchy Newspapers -- including the flagship Sacramento Bee.

And this isn't just any hedge fund. It's Chatham Asset Management, owner of The National Enquirer and a stable of other grocery store tabloids. The Enquirer, you'll remember, pulled a shameful catch-and-kill on Karen McDougal, the Playboy model who said she had an affair with Donald Trump, in order to influence the 2016 election.

As print media breathes its death rattle, hedge funds and billionaires have crept in to buy what's left of the country's remaining newspapers. Often to terrible results. They've gutted newsrooms. They've immorally influenced editorial direction. You get the idea.

Last year, Fortune reported that Chatham has a history of aggressive, litigious behavior, and has used Trump's former fixer, Michael Cohen, in at least one attempt to stop a former executive from suing. We fear more of the same behavior on the horizon.

Oh, and did you hear that Mayor Darrell Steinberg is officially pushing for yet another strong mayor initiative? Whereas former mayor Kevin Johnson tried and failed twice to pass 'strong mayor', Steinberg appears to think that he has the trust of the people of Sacramento to hand him more power.

We discuss how we don't like that the current city manager can continue to allow our police force to kill our Black and brown neighbors, as well as terrorize people experiencing homelessness. But we also don't trust a mayor who lied to the people of Sacramento about Measure U and tried to give a plurality of that tax revenue to the cops.

By the way, California is shut down again. So stay at home, brew some tea and enjoy our perfect takes.

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