On Sunday afternoon, former Associated Press reporter Joe Bel Bruno published a bombshell story on The Intersect, claiming that the Los Angeles Times was up for sale and that Jay Penske, the owner of the parent company to publications such as Variety and Rolling Stone, was looking to buy.
"Any deal, which is not guaranteed as these are described as early talks, would transform Penske into an L.A. publishing mogul not seen since the Chandler family had a stranglehold on Southern California media via The Times," Bruno wrote in his report.
The story was backed up by at least two anonymous sources that Bruno described as people "directly briefed on the talks" and within "both publishers’ inner circles." The sources asked not to be identified for fear of retribution, according to Bruno.
Rumors of the pending sale come weeks after L.A. Times Executive Editor Kevin Merida announced that the publication was cutting roughly 12 percent of their newsroom.
Bruno also reported that Alden Global Capital, a "vulture hedge" fund infamous for gutting newsrooms, is also interested in buying the Times. Soon-Shiong sold the 155-year-old San Diego Union-Tribune to Alden Global Capital's MediaNews Group in a deal announced earlier this month.