A couple dispatches from the world of badly ailing newspaper publishers…

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—The New York Sun, the highbrow conservative daily in New York, needs cash now in order to survive. Just a couple of weeks ago, the company published a letter, saying that without fresh capital it would have to fold up shop. In an interview with NYT, editor and publisher Seth Lipsky says: “I haven’t raised all that I need, but I’ve raised a lot.” He added that avid readers have sent in checks of $100-$200, though that’s not going to cut it. He also seems pretty sure that Rupert Murdoch will not swoop in as a savior. The most likely rescue scenario at this point would be for a major, wealthy benefactor to step in with no illusions about getting a return on investment.

—Meanwhile McClatchy (NYSE: MNI) CEO Gary Pruitt made some surprising comments about the company’s 2006 acquisition of Knight-Ridder… In an interview with the Sacramento Bee, Pruitt said it was “too early to tell” whether it was a smart buy. Seeing as the company has already taken goodwill writedowns associated with the deal, and there’s no question that the overall business has deteriorated, this is a hard position to reconcile. He did add that “It’s hard to claim it’s a good deal when you see the stock performance,” so perhaps the earlier statement needs more context. Faced with a steep debt load, McClatchy made its second major employment cutback for the year, just last week. (via Romenesko)