The prices have never been higher. This is a maximum cash out. They are very profitable businesses. Last year, the average operating profit margin was 22 percent for the newspaper segments of the public companies. There are some businesses that don't ever hope to get half of that in profit.
Most people hate the press anyhow.
That's naive perhaps, but I hope it's not naive because that's what really raises the question. Maybe this will just be tremendous for news gathering in this country. I'm not sure. Speaking of independence, there was another development at week's end going in the a somewhat different direction. A buyer stepped forward for the San Francisco Examiner, which seemed on the verge of extinction.