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OHN TROUTT JR.'S ANNOUNCEMENT that he may sell the 117-year-old Jonesboro Sun may mean a whole new ont for the state's newspaper war.
With weekday circulation of 27,899 and Sunday circulation of 30,876; about 110 employees; a 36,000-SF office/printing plant; little competition; and prime location in a town of more than 50,000 people, industrywatchers say the Sun is a hot commodity.
"That kind of paper is very, very valuable, and there are not many like that around that are available family-owned newspapers," said Ted Rickenbacher of Rickenbacher Media of Dallas. Rickenbacher, a newspaper broker, said he could name 40 to 50 possible buyers.
"All the chains would have some level of interest, probably," he said.
That, of course, means everyone from Donrey Media Group, which owns 20 newspapers in eightstates, including nine in Arkansas; to Kentucky-based Paxton Media Group, which owns three dailies in Arkansas; to media goliath Gannett Co., which once owned the Arkansas Gazette, now owns Mountain Home's Baxter Bulletin and just bought 21 more newspapers.
The list could also include Walter Hussman's Wehco Media Inc., which owns the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and six other newspapers; Jim Walton's Community Publishers Inc. of Bentonville, which owns The Northwest Arkansas Times; or any of dozens of other media companies that might want a shot at the Sun.
Troutt declined to narrow the possibilities, saying only that numerous companies have made offers through the years.
Northwest Players
But will northwest Arkansas's newspaper players - Donrey, Wehco, CPI take leave of the growing circulation battle among them to consider the Sun, a mid-sized daily alone in northeast Arkansas' largest city?
Sherman Frederick, Donrey Media Group president, said Donrey has expressed some interest in buying the Sun, which he said would "fit nicely in Donrey's strategy." Donrey has not made an offer, he said.
"Northwest Arkansas and Fort Smith is pretty much our stronghold, so that's kind of on the other side of the state,'' Frederick said. "But it's the kind of newspaper that when they do become available, you just have to take a look at them."
Hussman, Wehco's president and chief executive officer, said he...