• by Melynda Fuller , December 17, 2018

Tribune Publishing is reporting today that it has officially exited negotiations to sell the company to McClatchy.

According to several reports citing a person familiar with the matter, one potential fatal glitch in the deal involved antitrust complications. McClatchy owns the Miami Herald, while Tribune owns the Sun Sentinel, both Florida based outlets.

While the move would have posed a benefit to McClatchy, federal regulators were unlikely to approve the deal.

If the deal had gone through, Tribune Publishing would have joined its 10 newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune and New York Daily News, with McClatchy’s more than 30 papers across 14 states.

Tribune is still considering bids from investment firm Donerail and newspaper group Aim Media.

Separately, The Boston Globe is reported to have hired noted union-busting law firm Jones Day to take part in contract negotiations with its newsroom and business employees. The current contract is set to expire at year’s end.

According to The Boston Business Journal, a memo originally posted by Media Nation last week revealed that a first contract offer from the firm proposed stripping protections and provisions, including overtime, seniority, pay scales, job descriptions and severance and would “limit the time and scope of issues members can grieve and arbitrate.”

Jones Day was also hired by management at Slate, whose unionized employees voted to authorize a strike following issues with cost-of-living increases and other management issues.

Just last week, New York saw its staff vote to unionize. Management there held a union-busting meeting with labor law firm Proskauer Rose back in September of this year.