Freedom Buys Press-Enterprise

Freedom Communications has purchased the Press-Enterprise (Riverside, Cal.) from A.H. Belo for $27.3M.

The firm of entrepreneur Aaron Kushner owns the Orange County Register and was reportedly mulling an offer for the Boston Globe.
Belo CEO Jim Moroney said Kushner “will continue to support journalism as we have in the critical inland southern California region.”
 
The Dallas-based company had owned P-E, which traces its history to 1878, for 16 years.
 
Kushner bought the Register in July 2012 and added 350 staffers plus a raft of new sections.
 
WSJ Bolsters Tech Coverage

The Wall Street Journal has hired technology reporters Doug MacMillan and Jeff Elder, according to a staff memo from global tech editor Jonathan Krim.

MacMillan was reporting in San Francisco for Bloomberg. He focused on pre-IPO consumer Internet companies, IPOs (Zynga and Groupon) and local mainstays (Facebook, Twittter and Yahoo).

He handled daily news wrap-ups on Bloomberg West TV show, and earlier reported for BusinessWeek.

Elder wrote investigative pieces for the San Francisco Chronicle and served as social media editor for its SFgate site.

He also wrote for the Charlotte Observer, Cleveland Plain Dealer and Stars & Stripes.