Exhibit 5.1

Hogan Lovells US LLP 390 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10017 T +1 212 918 3000 F +1 212 918 3100 www.hoganlovells.com

May 17, 2019

Board of Directors

The McClatchy Company

2100 Q Street

Sacramento, California 95816

Ladies and Gentlemen:

We are acting as counsel to The McClatchy Company, a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), in connection with its registration statement on Form S‑8 (the “Registration Statement”), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Act”) relating to the proposed offering of up to 750,000 newly issued shares of the Class A common stock, par value $.01 per share (the “Common Stock”) of the Company (the “Shares”), all of which shares are issuable pursuant to The McClatchy 2012 Omnibus Incentive Plan, as amended and restated (the “Plan”).  This opinion letter is furnished to you at your request to enable you to fulfill the requirements of Item 601(b)(5) of Regulation S‑K, 17 C.F.R. § 229.601(b)(5), in connection with the Registration Statement.

For purposes of this opinion letter, we have examined copies of such agreements, instruments and documents as we have deemed an appropriate basis on which to render the opinions hereinafter expressed.  In our examination of the aforesaid documents, we have assumed the genuineness of all signatures, the legal capacity of all natural persons, the accuracy and completeness of all documents submitted to us, the authenticity of all original documents, and the conformity to authentic original documents of all documents submitted to us as copies (including pdfs).  As to all matters of fact, we have relied on the representations and statements of fact made in the documents so reviewed, and we have not independently established the facts so relied on.  This opinion letter is given, and all statements herein are made, in the context of the foregoing.

This opinion letter is based as to matters of law solely on the Delaware General Corporation Law, as amended.  We express no opinion herein as to any other statutes, rules or regulations.

Based upon, subject to and limited by the foregoing, we are of the opinion that following (i) effectiveness of the Registration Statement, (ii) issuance of the Shares pursuant to the terms of the Plan, and (iii) receipt by the Company of the consideration for the Shares specified in the applicable resolutions of the Board of Directors and in the Plan, the Shares will be validly issued, fully paid, and nonassessable. 

Hogan Lovells US LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in the District of Columbia.  “Hogan Lovells” is an international legal practice that includes Hogan Lovells US LLP and Hogan Lovells International LLP, with offices in:  Alicante   Amsterdam   Baltimore   Beijing   Birmingham   Boston   Brussels   Colorado Springs   Denver   Dubai   Dusseldorf   Frankfurt   Hamburg   Hanoi   Ho Chi Minh City   Hong Kong   Houston   Johannesburg   London   Los Angeles   Luxembourg   Madrid   Mexico City   Miami   Milan   Minneapolis   Monterrey   Moscow   Munich   New York   Northern Virginia   Paris   Perth   Philadelphia   Rio de Janeiro   Rome   San Francisco   São Paulo   Shanghai   Silicon Valley   Singapore   Sydney   Tokyo   Warsaw   Washington DC   Associated offices: Budapest   Jakarta   Shanghai FTZ   Ulaanbaatar   Zagreb.  Business Service Centers:  Johannesburg   Louisville.  For more information see www.hoganlovells.com

The McClatchy Company May 17, 2019

This opinion letter has been prepared for use in connection with the Registration Statement.  We assume no obligation to advise of any changes in the foregoing subsequent to the effective date of the Registration Statement.

We hereby consent to the filing of this opinion letter as Exhibit 5.1 to the Registration Statement.  In giving this consent, we do not thereby admit that we are an “expert” within the meaning of the Act.

Very truly yours,

/s/ HOGAN LOVELLS US LLP

HOGAN LOVELLS US LLP

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