The Washington Post reports that newspapers will increasingly be the target of private ownership because it provides a layer of protection from the ups and downs of Wall Street shareholders. Sound familiar?

It should. I said the very same thing exactly one month ago.

Here’s how The Post reports it:

In recent decades, almost all large newspapers and chains have been publicly owned. Now, however, newspapers have fallen into disfavor with Wall Street, which values stock-price growth over almost every performance metric. And newspapers are not growing.

Advertising growth exists only online, yet digital revenue is still less than 10 percent of almost every paper's total revenue. Consequently, public investors have forced companies to sell newspapers and break up venerable chains in an effort to extract value. The result: More papers are falling into private hands, where equity partnerships rule.

Though they are not growing, many newspapers continue to make healthy profits, making them appealing targets for equity firms: small groups of moneyed investors who typically hold their new companies for a few years, urge them to cut costs and create value, and then sell their interest and move on. Some equity firms leave the companies stronger and better-positioned for the future; others do not.

The Post moves this debate forward in an astute direction. Private equity firms are not known for buying anything and keeping it forever. They’re flippers, usually. So the question is when will they sell and to who? Check back tomorrow for the worst case scenario. You won’t want to miss it.