• SF Weekly, Tuesday, March 10, 2009 9:33 AM

The union representing employees at the financially troubled San Francisco Chronicle have asked the newspaper's owner, Hearst, for the chance to purchase the newspaper if it is put up for sale.

The request was made in a letter the California Media Workers Guild submitted to Hearst and the possibility of employee ownership was floated in a paid ad in the San Francisco Examiner. In its letter, the union says it wants to "form a public-labor partnership to explore the possibility of acquiring the Chronicle should the paper be offered for sale. If necessary, we will keep the paper going on borrowed funds and volunteer labor."

Hearst has said it would close the Chronicle or put it up for sale if it could not achieve massive cost reductions. Cutbacks include slashing up to 50% of the 275-person newsroom, according to insiders. But union officials say they are not convinced the Hearst-proposed cuts can restore the paper to fiscal health.

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