After Sam Zell bought the Tribune Co., the AP wrote a story about how very unlikely it was that anymore newspaper companies would change hands. Now with the sale of Dow Jones to tycoon Rupert Murdoch, the AP is back with another story. And this time, they mean it.

First, let’s remember what their lead said just five months ago:

In just over a year, unhappy shareholders have pressured two of the nation's largest newspaper companies into selling themselves. Who might be next? The short answer may be: Not anyone – yet.

I love the “yet.” It’s like a cautious editor tacked that on to be safe. The rest of the article boasts that tight-knit families with super (voting) powers control the remaining newspaper companies. Those families, we’re told, would never sell out for a buck. This hopeful quote ended the story:

“Nobody knows where the bottom is,” says Philip Meyer, journalism professor at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “If you're a family member in that situation ... it makes it a hard thing to sell, unless you find a buyer who is motivated by something other than financial returns.”

Other than financial returns? Like what? A newspaper collector? The AP clearly thought its hero families were impenetrable by the corporate evil-doers.

With its latest story, the AP concedes there were some weakling families out there:

When Rupert Murdoch prevailed this week in his struggle to buy Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, it proved two important points.

One, family control isn't an absolute guarantee against preventing a sale; and two, it may be too early to conclude that a wave of dealmaking that has reshaped the U.S. newspaper industry over the past year is over.

Still, the next graph sounds like the AP isn’t giving up hope. After all, only the tough family owners who really, really care are left to fight.

Other prominent newspaper companies such as The New York Times Co. and The Washington Post Co. have a far greater degree of family control than Dow Jones did, as does California-based McClatchy Co., owner of The Miami Herald and the third-largest publisher in the country by circulation.

If only the world were so simple.