OK, here are my predictions for McClatchy in 2008:
CEO Gary Pruitt will “resign” and walk away with a severance package worth tens of millions.
McClatchy is the worst-performing newspaper stock of 2007 and investors aren't going to put up with more of the same in 2008. So look for Gary Pruitt to leave McClatchy with a gigantic severance package. That’s what happens with failed newspaper executives. My earlier posts on Gary Pruit here, here, and here.
McClatchy will close down their Baghdad bureau.
I previously said McClatchy’s readers will know the US prevailed in Iraq when McClatchy quietly closes the Baghdad bureau. If current successes in Iraq continue, McClatchy will start closing down their Baghdad bureau soon.
It was quite a ride for McClatchy's Baghdad bureau in 2007, with Bobby "Big Man in the Green Zone" Calvan, Jay "Cemetery workers feel the pinch" Price, and Nancy "Bleak future" Youssef. But all good things must come to an end.
Bureau Chief Leila Fadel will receive awards and accolades from fellow journalists and other failed media outlets.
Fadel received a standing ovation after a speech to a gathering of female journalists last October. Look for Fadel to get even more awards in 2008.
