Newsosaur Alan Mutter: Newspaper Companies Out of Bankruptcy Stiffed Lenders for Nearly $2 Billion
By Alan D. Mutter
Published: March 23, 2010
SAN FRANCISCO The four newspaper companies that have exited bankruptcy to date have shed three-quarters of their of debt, collectively trimming nearly $2 billion in burdensome obligations.
In so doing, the publishers will take some pressure off their newspapers to produce aggressive profits during an historic – and ongoing – collapse in advertising sales. But that doesn’t mean the staffs at those newspapers can rest easy.
As detailed in the Bankruptcy Scorecard below, the publishers who unburdened their balance sheets through Chapter 11 are MediaNews Group, which chucked 82% of its debt; Minneapolis Star Tribune, which deep-sixed 79% of its debt; Morris Publishing Group, which dumped 69% of its debt, and Journal Register Co., which unloaded 68% of its debt.
Read the full story here.
Alan D. Mutter (alan.mutter@broadbandxxi.com) is a newspaper editor-turned Silicon Valley CEO-turned newspaper consultant. He writes Reflections of a Newsosaur, a popular industry blog at www.newsosaur.blogspot.com. He also writes an exclusive column monthly for E&P's print edition.
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