The good and bad news from the old man:
Warren Buffett reiterated yesterday that Berkshire won’t be adding new newspaper investments.
“For most newspapers in the United States, we would not buy them at any price,” Buffett said.
He said most newspapers face the possibility of unending losses because the industry has lost its essential nature.
“They were only essential to advertisers as long as they were essential to the reader, and that is changing,” Buffett said.
The CEO of Berkshire owns the Buffalo News, one of the worst but most profitable U.S. newspapers.
And has invested for many years in the Washington Post Company, which makes a lot of money not with the newspaper or Newsweek but with textbooks and other educational business.
Mr. Buffett never has been a big supporter of first-class journalism.
His Buffalo paper is really a shopper like many U.S. newspapers.
And all of his investments in Washington DC are more a question of access to power than a real media business.
So, his message is clear: if you are just a shopper, your future looks bad.
And if you are in the real journalism business, Mr. Buffett is not your best investor.
He likes money and power, not journalism.