Warren Buffett May Buy Allentown Morning Call

The Berkshire Hathaway investor is apparently considering buying the Allentown Morning Call, according to a report today in… the Morning Call. “Allentown is our kind of place,” Buffett said, when asked if he planned to buy the paper. The report indicated that the Tribune Company, which owns the 83,654 circulation Lehigh Valley daily, will likely sell off its print titles when it emerges from bankruptcy towards the end of the year. Judging from the report alone, the reporters appear to have contacted Buffett on a whim, based on his proclivity for buying regional newspapers.

Turns out there’s more to the story. Morning Call reporter Sam Kennedy, who talked to Buffett for the piece, told me that “we had heard that there was interest from Warren Buffett” but was “not at liberty to say what our sources are.” Added Kennedy, “His recent history with buying newspapers led us to take [the rumors] seriously.”

For his part, Buffett himself told the paper that he hadn’t ” heard anything from the Tribune Co.,” but that if the phone rings, he’ll answer. Why couldn’t Buffett just call the Tribune himself? “You’re asking questions that are above my pay grade,” Kennedy said. [The Morning Call]