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Outlet profile

The News & Observer

U.S. center-left (editorial page); news coverage mainstream regional

Owned byOwned by McClatchy Media Company, which has been controlled by the hedge fund Chatham Asset Management since its 2020 bankruptcy sale. McClatchy merged with A360 Media in 2024.
FundingMainly digital subscriptions and advertising, plus other revenue from the McClatchy chain. The owner is a private investment firm, and the chain has made repeated cost cuts, including layoffs reported in 2026.
On the administrationmostly neutral

Background

The paper traces its roots to the 1800s and took its current form through a series of Raleigh newspaper mergers. Josephus Daniels bought it in 1894, and his family owned it for about a century. He was a prominent Democrat and a Wilson administration cabinet official. McClatchy bought the paper in 1995. McClatchy filed for bankruptcy in 2020 and was sold to Chatham Asset Management for about $312 million. Chatham also has had ties to tabloid and magazine properties. In 2024, McClatchy merged with A360 Media. In September 2026, local business press reported that McClatchy had made deep cuts at papers it owns, including layoffs across the chain. This continues a long period of shrinking newsrooms and a shift toward digital. The paper has won Pulitzer Prizes, including for public-service and investigative work, and it is the Triangle region's main daily. Its editorial page has generally supported Democratic candidates and positions, while its newsroom says it keeps news and opinion separate. Critics on the right have called it liberal-leaning. Others have raised concerns that cuts have weakened its local coverage. This profile rests mainly on general background and limited search results, so readers should check current details of the paper's recent coverage themselves.

Sources

  1. McClatchy, owner of NC's two largest newspapers, makes deep cuts after tough summer (NSJ Online)
  2. McClatchy (Wikipedia)
  3. Chatham Asset Management (Wikipedia)
  4. McClatchy Acquired by Chatham Asset Management, LLC (PR Newswire)
  5. McClatchy, owner of News & Observer, files bankruptcy (WRAL)

Profile compiled 2026-10-16; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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