The company operates 29 daily newspapers in 14 states and has an average weekday circulation of 1.6 million and Sunday circulation of 2.4 million.[2] In 2006, it purchasedKnight Ridder, which at the time was the second-largest newspaper company in the United States. In 2024, McClatchy merged withA360media.
McClatchy journalists have also won nine Pulitzer prizes in their 159-year history,[3] most recently in 2017 for an article on thePanama Papers. They were also finalists in 2015 for articles on government efforts to hide Bush-eraCIA Enhanced interrogation techniques.[4]
On February 3, 1857,The Daily Bee was first published in Sacramento, California. A few months laterJames McClatchy succeededRollin Ridge as the paper's editor. McClatchy became a co-owner on February 12, 1866, and majority stock owner on June 26, 1872. At that time the firm's name was changed to McClatchy & Co.[5] His sonCharles K. McClatchy soon joined his father as junior partner,[6] and succeeded him upon his death in 1883.[7]
The company foundedThe Fresno Bee in 1922.[8] BrotherValentine S. McClatchy was a company co-owner, but sold out in 1923.[9] C.K. McClatchy bought theSacramento Star fromScripps-Howard Newspapers and absorbed it intoThe Bee in February 1925.[10] He also launched a Modesto edition ofThe Fresno Bee called theModesto Bee in June 1925.[11] The paper ceased after two weeks due to lack of subscriptions.[12] In August 1927, McClatchy bought theNews-Herald,[13] and five years later it was renamed toThe Modesto Bee.[14][15] In 1933, McClatchy's sonCarlos K. McClatchy, who was expected to eventually take over for his father, died ofInfluenza.[16] At that time McClatchy's youngest daughterEleanor McClatchy joined the business to be trained as his successor.[17] In 1935, theSacramento Bee won its firstPulitzer Prize.[18] In 1936, C.K. McClatchy died.[19] In 1938, V.S. McClatchy died.[9]
Eleanor McClatchy managed the company for the next four decades.[17] In 1963, McClatchy acquired the television stationKOVR in Stockton, California, fromMetromedia.[20] In 1978, Eleanor McClatchy retired. She died two years later.[17]Charles K. McClatchy, son of Carlos K. McClatchy, then took over as president of McClatchy Newspapers.[21] Under him, the company acquired theAnchorage Daily News in January 1979,[22] soldKOVR toThe Outlet Company for $65 million,[23] then purchased theTri-City Herald in October 1979,[24] followed by theTacoma News Tribune andPierce County Herald in 1986.[25] The company went public to reduce debt in 1988, but the McClatchy family maintained 99% voting control of the corporation.[26] C. K. McClatchy II died suddenly of a heart attack while out jogging in April 1989.[21] He was succeeded byErwin Potts, the first non-family member to lead the company.[27]
In September 1989, McClatchy acquired three dailies in South Carolina from The News & Observer Company for $74.1 million. The sale includedThe Herald of Rock Hill,The Island Packet of Hilton Head, andThe Beaufort Gazette of Beaufort.[28] In August 1992, theEllensburg Daily Record was acquired.[29] In May 1995, McClatchy bought the rest of N&O Co., includingThe News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina, for $373 million.[30] In June 1995, thePeninsula Gateway was purchased.[31] In October 1996, theDaily Record was sold toPioneer News Group.[32] In November 1997, McClatchy agreed to purchase theCowles Media Company for $1.4 billion.[33] The sale was completed in March 1998. McClatchy kept theMinneapolis Star Tribune, and sold off two magazine and book publishing businesses owned by Cowles Media toPRIMEDIA for $200 million.[34] In December 2003, McClatchy bought six newspapers in theSan Joaquin Valley from Pacific-Sierra Publishing. The sale included the dailyMerced Sun-Star and five non-dalies:Sierra Star of Oakhurst,Los Banos Enterprise,Chowchilla News,Atwater Signal andLivingston Chronicle.[35]
The Knight Ridder sale left McClatchy with a 15% stake inCareerBuilder, a 15% stake inShopLocal and a 11.5% stake inTopix.net.[37] In December 2006, McClatchy sold theMinneapolis Star Tribune, its largest newspaper at the time, for $530 million to private-equity firmAvista Capital Partners. Selling at a loss gave McClatchy a $160 million tax break.[41]
Amid theGreat Recession, McClatchy cut its workforce by 10% in 2008.[42] Pruitt left the company in 2012 and was succeeded as CEO byPatrick Talamantes.[43] In January 2017,Craig Forman was appointed as the new president andchief executive officer.[44] In February 2019, Forman emailed all staff to say about 10% of the newspaper chain's employees would be offered voluntary buyouts.[45]
On February 13, 2020, The McClatchy Company and 54 affiliated companies filed forChapter 11 bankruptcy protection in theUnited States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The company cited pension obligations and excessive debt as the primary reasons for the filing.[46][47][48] The debt obtained from the Knight Ridder acquisition and the decision not to retain any of Knight Ridder's digital division or corporate staff, despite the growing prominence of theInternet and Knight Ridder having a well-respected effort in the space at the time, were cited as contributing factors in the bankruptcy.[49] In August 2020, the Court approved an offer by Chatham Asset Management—ahedge fund that also owns a 66% share in Canadian publisherPostmedia—to acquire McClatchy for $312 million. The company stated that it would not impose any layoffs, and would honor all existing union agreements.[50][51] Tony W. Hunter was named CEO.[52]
In December 2024, Chatham Asset Management-owned magazine publishera360media (the former American Media, Inc.) was merged into McClatchy, with the company renamed McClatchy Media, and a360media's assets forming the basis of the new McClatchy Lifestyle & Entertainment division.[57][58]
In May 2025, the company announced thatCloser,First for Women,In Touch, andLife & Style would cease publication, with their staff laid off.[59] In November 2025, the company closed its Washington, D.C. bureau.[60]
McClatchyDC was a news agency that distributed original reporting from McClatchy'sWashington, D.C. bureau, which was acquired from Knight Ridder in 2006.[61] It was the largest client of the McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.[62] In 2008, McClatchy's bureau chief in D.C., John Walcott, was the first recipient of theI. F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence, awarded by theNieman Foundation for Journalism.[63][64] In November 2025, McClatchyDC ceased operations.[60][65]
In 1978, McClatchy formed El Dorado Newspapers, a subsidiary created to acquire and administer smaller newspapers in California.[66] El Dorado acquired theGilroy Dispatch in September 1978,[67]The Morgan Hill Times in July 1979,[68]Clovis Independent in October 1979,[69]Lincoln News Messenger in May 1980,[70] andHollister Free Lance in January 1981.[71]The Dispatch,Free Lance andThe Times were operated under the name Gavilan Newspapers.[66] In April 1989, El Dorado in one deal acquired theAmador Ledger,Amador Dispatch,Amador Progress-News and Amador Advertiser.[72] TheLedger andDispatch were then merged to form theAmador Ledger-Dispatch.[73]
In September 1994, McClatchy sold theLincoln News Messenger to Brehm Communications Inc.[74] In October 1996, McClatchy announced it will sell theAmadorLedger-Dispatch,Hollister Free Lance,Morgan Hill Times andGilroy Dispatch to USMedia Group, Inc.[75] TheClovis Independent, the last paper to have operated under the El Dorado banner, ceased operations in June 2008.[76]
Nando Media was an Internet subsidiary that provided business support and material for Internet media. McClatchy acquired it when it purchased The News & Observer Company in 1995.[77][78][79] The Nando brand was abandoned and the unit was renamed toMcClatchy Interactive in 2005.[80] It was absorbed into the rest of McClatchy in 2015 and became the company's digital division.[81]
McClatchy inherited a partnership with theTribune Company in thenews service Knight Ridder-Tribune Information Services, renamed to McClatchy-Tribune Information Services, when it acquired Knight Ridder in 2006.[82] Tribune bought out McClatchy's share of the company in 2014 and moved its headquarters to Chicago.[62]
McClatchy was part of a consortium of five U.S. newspaper companies that, along with a Canadian forest products company, jointly owned the Ponderay Newsprint Mill nearSpokane, Washington.[83] The plant opened in 1989 and closed in 2020.[84] A year later it sold for $18.1 million to a California-based venture capital company.[85]
On August 4, 2013, McClatchy Newspapers, citing anonymous sources, reported on conversations betweenAyman al-Zawahiri, who succeededOsama bin Laden as the head ofAl Qaeda, andNasser al-Wuhayshi, the head of the Yemen-basedAl Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, discussing an alleged imminent terrorist attack. Two days previously,The New York Times had agreed to withhold the identities of the Al Qaeda leaders after US intelligence officials claimed the information could jeopardize their operations. Government analysts and officials interviewed by theTimes said this disclosure caused more immediate damage to American counter-terrorism efforts than the thousands of classified documents disclosed byEdward Snowden; after the McClatchy publication, there was a sharp drop in the terrorists' use of a major communications channel that the authorities were monitoring.[86] Subsequently, officials searched for new ways to monitor communications among Al Qaeda's leaders and operatives.[86]
McClatchy Broadcasting was founded in 1936 when 4 radio stations in California merge to operate under one ownership.[87] McClatchy sold its remaining 4 radio stations; KFBK and KAER toGroup W,[88] and KMJ and KNAX to Henry Broadcasting Co.,[89] in 1987.
(**) indicates a station that was built and signed-on by McClatchy.
^"A History Of The Bee. | The Various Hands Through Which It Has Passed".The Sacramento Bee. March 10, 1888. p. 2.
^"Notice".The Sacramento Bee. November 11, 1879. p. 3.
^"Death of James McClatchy".Chico Weekly Enterprise. November 2, 1883. p. 1.
^"The Fresno Bee Publishes First Number To-Day".The Sacramento Bee. October 17, 1922. p. 1.
^ab"Death Takes Valentine S. McClatchy | Former Part Owner of Sacramento And Fresno Bee Dies Suddenly".The Fresno Bee. May 16, 1938. p. 1.
^"Notice Of Consolidation".The Sacramento Star. February 7, 1925. p. 1.
^"New Daily Will Open on Monday In City Modesto | McClatchy of Fresno Bee Is Expanding, Says N.C. Baumunk".The Record. Stockton, California. June 9, 1925. p. 17.
^"Modesto Bee Is Suspended".Visalia Times-Delta. July 14, 1925. p. 11.
^"Modesto News-Herald Bought by McClatchys".The Morning Press. Associated Press. August 23, 1927. p. 1.
^"Modesto News-Herald Now Modesto Bee".Vallejo Evening News. July 29, 1933. p. 4.
^abCarey, Pete (August 3, 2006). "Sales of 12 former Knight Ridder papers closed".Lexington Herald-Leader. p. 18.
^Yao, Deborah (May 24, 2006). "McClatchy sells Philadelphia newspapers | Inquirer and Daily News net $562 million".Intelligencer Journal. Lancaster, Pennsylvania. p. 20.
^"McClatchy releases sale prices of five former KR papers".Citizens' Voice. Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Associated Press. June 13, 2006. p. A24.
^Rubinkam, Michale (June 27, 2006). "McClatchy sells last Knight Ridder paper | Wilkes-Barre's Times Leader sold to private investors".The Evening Sun. Hanover, Pennsylvania. Associated Press. p. 8.
^"Paper sale gives McClatchy a tax break".The Wichita Eagle. Associated Press. December 28, 2006. p. 22.
^"Brehm publisher buys Messenger | Parent company of Auburn Journal assumes ownership role today".Lincoln News Messenger. September 1, 1994. p. 1.
^Nax, Stanford (October 19, 1996). "McClatchy Newspapers sells 4 of its publications".The Fresno Bee. p. 47.
^Lippert, Patti J. (June 27, 2008). "Thanks for the memories | The Clovis Independent proudly captures your way of life for 103 years".The Fresno Bee. pp. KA1.
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