Quick question for my buddies in the media. Or outside the biz.

Consider the premise:

1. Newspaper chains, mostly public, are in deep doo-doo because they’re not seen as the reliable cash cows they once were. Wall Street is only interested if the numbers are still getting better.

2. BUT … a bit of info that won’t surprise anyone other than Gannett Blog’s most ignorant readers: News organizations still make a fair amount of money.

3. News organizations that are privately owned don’t answer to Wall Street.

4. Everyone seems to think he or she knows how a newspaper should be run.

So …

Why aren’t people buying newspapers and taking them private?