Reports: Herald-Tribune Parent Company to Be Sold

Update 3:08 p.m.:

The Herald-Tribune reports of a "hastily called" town hall with its publisher Diane McFarlin where the news was revealed to employees and that the deal was "likely to go through":

"In a statement to Regional Media Group employees, president and COO Michael Golden said he expected the "vast majority" of employees to be offered employment under the new owners.

McFarlin stressed to employees that Halifax Media stresses local connections, and that local emphasis is "something that bodes well for us."

Earlier:

A curious screenshot on the Halifax Media Group's website is causing stirs across the journalism industry and here in Sarasota.

A screenshot showed Halifax Media Group listing New York Times Regional Media Group's newspapers, including the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, in its properties. Halifax, based in Canada, also owns The Daytona Beach News-Journal.

The screenshot has since been removed, and the Halifax Web site has appeared to crash.

The New York Times Co. acknowledged a potential sale to Halifax:

"The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) announced today that it is in advanced discussions to sell its Regional Media Group, consisting of 16 regional newspapers, other print publications and related businesses, to Halifax Media Holdings LLC.

The Regional Media Group comprises the following publications:

• Sarasota Herald-Tribune in Sarasota, Fla.;
• The Press Democrat in Santa Rosa, Calif.;
• The Ledger in Lakeland, Fla.;
• Star-News in Wilmington, N.C.;
• Herald-Journal in Spartanburg, S.C.;
• Star-Banner in Ocala, Fla.;
• The Gainesville Sun in Gainesville, Fla.;
• The Tuscaloosa News in Tuscaloosa, Ala.;
• The Gadsden Times in Gadsden, Ala.;
• The Courier in Houma, La.;
• Times-News in Hendersonville, N.C.;
• Daily Comet in Thibodaux, La.;
• The Dispatch in Lexington, N.C.;
• Petaluma Argus-Courier in Petaluma, Calif.;
• News Chief in Winter Haven, Fla.; and
• North Bay Business Journal in Santa Rosa, Calif."

"We are not commenting beyond the release," New York Times Co. spokeswoman Abbe Serphos said.

Herald-Tribune reporter Todd Ruger told Patch via a Twitter direct message that:

"SH-T staff is meeting with publisher right now ... People will know more after that. I have no idea what it means."

Ruger is not in the newsroom at the time, and is in Denver just learning about the reports.

Patch is awaiting return calls for comment from Herald-Tribune Publisher Diane McFarlin and Executive Editor Mike Connelly. A call to Halifax was not immediately returned either.

New York Times owns 15 papers across the country in its media group, and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune is the largest with a 76,563 daily circulation and 96,237 Sunday circulation.

Poynter Institute — a nonprofit institute for journalism excellence — is following up on a tweet about the potential sale:

"After we received a tip about the sale and contacted the company, Times reporter Amy Chozick tweeted, 'Days after its CEO leaves, the New York Times Co. is in talks to sell its regional newspapers. Story coming shortly.'"

Media reporter Jim Romenesko reports on his site that the announcement should come today but wasn't planned:

"The sale wasn’t supposed to be announced today, but the web page you see on the right was posted this morning by accident; it shows all of the Regional Media Group papers being owned by Halifax."