Looks like Knight Ridder, once the gold standard among newspaper chains, will sell itself to smaller competitor McClatchy for $4.5 billion. Is this good or bad news? Probably a little of both.

Journalism lovers are glad Knight Ridder didn’t sell out to Gannett, the original dumber-downers:

“I’m rooting for McClatchy because it’s practically the last [newspaper] chain that doesn’t strike dread and disgust in my heart,” said Judy Bolch, professor at the University of Missouri School of Journalism and former managing editor of the News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C., which is owned by McClatchy.

But did McClatchy bite off more than it can chew?

One analyst says of the deal: “McClatchy is a dolphin swallowing a small whale.”

In any case, it’s another unmistakable indicator of a shrinking industry.

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