Wednesday, June 23, 2004

Is the JPost sale on or off?

Hollinger today finally sold its main asset, the Daily Telegraph, to the mysterious Barclay twins. Theoretically, they were going to concentrate on the Telegraph sale before proceeding with the sale of their other papers, including The Jerusalem Post. But despite all the speculation, their plans for the Israeli daily remain unclear.
According to CBS Marketwatch, "Hollinger said it expects to retain its other major properties, the Jerusalem Post, the Chicago Sun-Times and other North American newspapers."
The BBC claims that "Hollinger International is likely to continue seeking a buyer - or buyers - for the [Telegraph's sister-] newspapers, which remain notable titles in their own right." (But we already know how much we trust the BBC.)
Hollinger interim CEO Gordon Paris, who was recently in Israel to personally fire The Post's publisher Tom rose, remained pareve in the company's press release: "We are proud of the continued commitment demonstrated by all of the employees at The Chicago Sun-Times, The Jerusalem Post and Report and our other newspapers across North America."
One thing's for certain: the staff of the Jerusalem Post want it to be sold. Can't Hollinger make them happy -- just this once?

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