NEW YORK (AP) — Billionaire Warren Buffett’s company is making its largest foray into newspapers yet, agreeing to buy 63 papers from Media General Inc.
Richmond, Va.-based Media General says the $142 million deal includes the Richmond Times-Dispatch and the Winston-Salem Journal. Media General also owns the Independent Tribune of Concord and Kannapolis.
The company is selling all its papers except those in Tampa, Fla., most importantly the Tampa Tribune. Media General says it is in talks with others for those papers.
Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has owned the Buffalo News of New York for decades and recently bought its hometown paper, the Omaha World-Herald.
Buffett has defended newspapers. He has said that even though they face competition from the Internet, they will have a decent future if they continue delivering information that can’t be found elsewhere and stop offering news free online.