Disappeared News: David Black didn’t buy the Advertiser as much as kill his competitor

Monday, May 24, 2010

David Black didn’t buy the Advertiser as much as kill his competitor

by Larry Geller

I hate to say it, but this morning I found myself wondering which comics would be kept in the new Star-Advertiser when it debuts in a couple of weeks. Someone slap me.

This picture is fuzzy, but what is missing from it is the Star-Bulletin box that has been next to it forever. The other day it was gone. I went to where the next box was, and yes, the past tense applies there also. It was gone.

My thought was: It was the Advertiser that was sold, right?

Actually, what David Black did was buy himself a very capable German press in Kapolei, one that prints a variety of publications besides the Advertiser. He also bought subscriptions and probably advertising contracts.

What he is not using are the people who make the Advertiser what it is, and the building they still work in (which wasn’t part of the deal).

If the overwhelming majority of the Advertiser staff will not be kept on, then he has not bought the Advertiser, he’s just bought what he needs to transform the Star-Bulletin into a viable product.