New York Times Co. says Telegram & Gazette of Worcester, Mass. will not be sold

Times Co. says it will not sell Worcester paper

WORCESTER, Mass. — The Telegram & Gazette of Worcester will not be sold and will remain part of New York Times Co.’s New England Media Group, the company announced Monday.

“The progress that has been made this year at the T&G is impressive and we look forward to continued improvement,” Times Co. publisher Arthur Sulzberger and president and CEO Janet Robinson said in a joint statement.

Times Co. announced in October that it would not sell its largest New England property, The Boston Globe, but left open the possibility of selling the Worcester newspaper.

A group led by retired T&G editor Harry Whitin and Polar Beverages Co. CEO Ralph Crowley said it had made an undisclosed bid for the newspaper. Billionaire real estate magnate Jeff Greene, a Worcester native, had also expressed interest in the T&G through his Florida-based investment company.

“What has become abundantly apparent is that the T&G is making substantial progress in transforming every part of its journalistic and business operations,” Sulzberger and Robinson said in their letter.

“As a result, you are doing an even better job in meeting the needs of your readers and your communities in Central Massachusetts.”

The Times Co. executives cited a redesign of the T&G into a single-edition newspaper, a more user-friendly classified section, and creation of regional weekly publications.

They also credited management with successfully implementing a series of price increases.

The changes were difficult, Sulzberger and Robinson acknowledged, resulting in “significant staffing reductions.”

The newspaper’s publisher, Bruce Gaultney, said the paper is positioned to take advantage of a recovering economy.

“We’ve had an eventful year. We had some significant improvements to our newspaper, to our Web site, and we had strong support from our local community,” he said.

Times Co. bought the 143-year-old newspaper, the largest in central Mass., for $296 million in 2000.