After market close on Friday, March 1, 2013, Warren Buffett delivered hisannual letter to Berkshire shareholders. Buffett’s letters are widely read and closely studied for the insights he provides into the financial markets and into his own investment views. However, the most striking aspect of this year’s letter may be the topics he does not address. (Full Disclosure: I own BRK.B shares).

That is, despite Buffett’s age (82) and his recent health issues (in April 2012, he was diagnosed with stage 1 prostate cancer), Buffett does not address succession planning (except perhaps indirectly, as noted below). Despite the gridlock in Washington and the continuing difficulties in the Eurozone, Buffett does not directly discuss macroeconomic issues. Nor does this year’s letter include a marketplace critique, by contrast to recent years’ letters in which he has, for example, addressed the questionable value of investing in gold, potential problems with the dollar, or problems with the hedge fund business model.

What did Buffet talk about instead? Newspapers. Yes, newspapers.  Excluding Buffett’s description of the upcoming Berkshire shareholders’ meeting, the letter is eighteen pages long. Buffett devoted three pages – more than 16% of the entire letter — to newspapers. To be sure, Berkshire has purchased 28 daily newspapers in the last 15 months, but the total cost of these acquisitions is $344 million. Let’s put that into perspective. At year end, Berkshire had assets of $427.4 billion.

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Tags: Berkshire, Buffett, Warren Buffett