In the current media landscape of corporate media ownership, it’s rare when a major newspaper is owned locally any more. It’s even stranger when that local owner is a billionaire.
Omaha, say hello to Warren Buffett, a local boy who made good, and has decided to purchase the Omaha World-Herald and add it to Berkshire Hathaway’s media holdings. According to Bloomberg, The World-Herald reported the price as $150 million plus assumption of debt, giving Berkshire control of it alongside six other daily newspapers and several weekly newspapers across Nebraska and southwest Iowa. Interestingly, Buffett also owns The Buffalo News, home to Adam Zyglis, who we syndicate nationally with Cagle Cartoons.
World-Herald cartoonist and Cagle.com contributor Jeff Koterba was thrilled about the purchase (that’s his cartoon to the right).
“The news is breathtaking,” Jeff told me. “The World-Herald has a long history of local ownership and this move ensures that that tradition will continue. As a native Omahan who also happens to draw for his hometown newspaper, I couldn’t be more thrilled.”
