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FresnoFamous.com
The McClatchy Co. just bought the hip, edgy community/citJ site Fresno Famous. Is it a good fit? |
California-based citizen journalism site
Fresno Famous was purchased yesterday by the
Fresno Bee -- one of the crown jewels in the historic
McClatchy newspaper chain.
Fresno Famous was founded in 2004 by 26-year-old Jarah Euston. The site is a community portal, with blogs, podcasts, Flickr photo galleries, and forums.
The Bee will own Fresno Famous, but the new acquisition be managed separately from the newspaper. Said Euston in the official announcement, "Fresno Famous will remain separate from The Fresno Bee newspaper, but will gain the resources of a much larger media company. We owe our success to the community of users on the site, and know this sale will only improve user experience," said Euston.
Reactions of the Fresno Famous community to the sale are strongly mixed. Comments on the site (here and here) range from: "This was a great business deal ...as long as people continue to make Famous what it is, then Famous can continue being what it is," and "I think we need to give the Bee folks a chance, they might surprise us," to "I don't see how anything good can come out of this for the community," and "Blech."
Also purchased by McClatchy is Modesto Famous, sister site to Fresno Famous founded in May 2006. McClatchy also owns the Modesto Bee.
"Purchasing a strong franchise such as Fresno Famous gives The Bee another way in which to reach younger readers with information they seek," said Valerie Bender, vice president of custom publications for The Bee. "Our intention is to keep the high standard of blogging and information that has led to the success of Fresno Famous and to, over time, continue to grow the content and opportunities for citizen journalism on the site."
Bender will be taking over management of Fresno Famous from Euston, who will aid the transition over the next six months.
In a unusual way, this development echoes the evolution of the McClatchy chain. In the last century -- 1922, to be exact -- Carlos McClatchy launched the Fresno Bee. In 1927, McClatchy bought the News-Herald of Modesto and renamed it the Modesto Bee.
