The Newspaper Guild, whose bid for the 12 “orphan” Knight Ridder newspapers was rejected by McClatchy Co., is calling on state and federal regulators to investigate McClatchy’s plans to sell the Mercury News, Contra Costa Times and other newspapers to MediaNews. McClatchy said it will get $1 billion, equal to 11.5 times the cashflow of the papers; the Guild didn’t say what its offer was worth. Instead, the Guild’s emphasis is on media consolidation. “The newspaper industry is already dominated by a small circle of ownership groups,” E&P quoted Guild President Linda Foley as saying. “Yesterday’s news drew that circle even smaller.”