Newspaper Guild President Linda Foley (pictured) complained today that the union’s private equity partner, Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa Companies, hasn’t been provided sufficient information to make a bid for 12 Knight Ridder papers being sold by McClatchy. But newspaper industry analyst John Morton says he suspects McClatchy fears that “the union is just fishing for information … They’re probably afraid they’ll arm the Guild with negotiating leverage they wouldn’t otherwise have.” Eight of the 12 Knight Ridder papers being sold by McClatchy are unionized. In the Bay Area, the Mercury News and Monterey Herald are unionized while the Contra Costa Times and Palo Alto Daily News group are not. [Merc: Guild needs more information to ‘perfect’ its bid] [UPI: Guild urges openness in newspaper bidding] [Reuters: Union says it has been denied access to McClatchy data] [Guild’s press release]