The Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, Calif., Paul Gullixson column [The Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, Calif.]

Dec. 24--Thank you to all who have called or written this past week expressing concern about the pending change in ownership of The Press Democrat.

I've heard from a variety of people, from elected officials and business leaders to teachers and retirees, all reflecting the kind of community goodwill that has made working here so gratifying for the past 13 years.

I simply told them that you all know as much as we do: that the New York Times Co. is in talks to sell The Press Democrat, the North Bay Business Journal, the Petaluma Argus-Courier, and the 13 other newspapers in the New York Times Regional Media Group to the Halifax Media Holdings LLC, owner of the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

I share your concerns, and I have many of the same questions.

What I don't share, however, is the gloomy prognosis some have about what this means for the future. The fact is, we don't know what this entails for us as employees or for the newspaper in general. No one does.

I have not met or spoken with anybody from Halifax Media at this point. But I'm sure this is not how they would have preferred this deal to roll out.

The only reason the sale is even known is that someone, by accident we presume, posted the holdings of the Halifax group on its website -- holdings that included all 16 NYTRMG newspapers. That blunder was picked up by bloggers who track newspaper-related news, and it took off from there. Little more has been known since then. The week came and went without any news, and it now appears that we won't know anything until later this week at the earliest.

The result has been an information void, and, as we know, speculation abhors a vacuum. Thus, recent days have been filled with conjecture -- both externally and internally -- about what this means for the newspaper, the industry, the community and to the editorial section in particular. Most of it is well-meaning. Some of it is well-researched. But the fact is, nobody knows anything.

Nevertheless, some in the community already appear to be spoiling for a fight, based primarily on what the Halifax folks did when they took control of the Daytona Beach newspaper last year. The primary change: It cut staff by 10 percent.

I hate to say it, but we've reduced our staff by more than that in recent years.

Rumor is also rife about how Halifax Media will change the philosophical focus of our editorial pages based on how conservative the Daytona newspaper is. It's certainly possible. But it's also possible that the Daytona paper went a more conservative direction to reflect a region that's represented by a Republican in Congress and has voted Republican in the last three presidential races. Moreover, Daytona Beach, site of Florida's first tea party convention last month, is represented by a Republican state Senator in a state Legislature that has been overwhelmingly controlled by Republicans since 1996. Leaning right is hardly a stretch for a newspaper in that part of the world.

But, again, all of this is just grist for the speculation mill.

Certainly, nobody wants to go through something like this, especially during the holidays. It's true, as Chris Smith wrote, that "our stomachs are knotty." But the fact is we're not alone. These remain uncertain times for many. And given all the problems in the world with foreclosures, bankruptcies and deficits, there are worse things than getting a new owner.

Just ask any current or former employee of State Farm Insurance, Standard Structures, Agilent, Traverso's, Gottschalks and any number of local businesses, including those that once populated the area known as Telecom Valley. What impresses me are those who deal with this kind of uncertainty every day -- contractors, sole proprietors, landscapers and others who sometimes are happy just to know they have enough business lined up to get through the week. For many, being in limbo has become a way of life.

I say this as someone whose been through something like this before. In 1992, the Tribune Co. announced, just before the holidays, no less, that the newspaper I was working for in Palo Alto was for sale. The bad news was, there was no buyer. The Tribune Co. said it would search for one until April. It didn't. The newspaper closed in March.

As hard as that was to lose my job, the death of the old Peninsula Times-Tribune gave birth to a new generation of community newspapers, which continue to cover that area in-depth.

The good news is the PD is far more vital than that paper was, far better operated and far better equipped to meet the challenges of a digital age. The reality is we aren't just threatened by the Internet anymore. We're a part of it, a growing part of it. And all things considered, we can be thankful that there is a buyer, one run by newspaper people who appear committed to local news.

So for now, I'm following the advice of Winston Churchill who called himself an optimist because "it doesn't seem to be much use being anything else."

And until we hear otherwise, we'll continue putting out the best newspaper we can every day, continuing a tradition that has lasted in this community for 155 years. That's all we know.

Paul Gullixson is editorial director for The Press Democrat. Email him at paul.gullixson @pressdemocrat.com.

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