Journal Register Files for Bankruptcy Protection

Journal Register Co., the debt-strapped owner of the New Haven Register and about 20 other daily papers, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Saturday, at least the third newspaper publisher to tip into bankruptcy court in recent months.

Journal Register has been plagued for more than a year by an unsustainable level of borrowing, made worse by an industry-wide plunge in revenue. Journal Register's woes stem from an acquisition binge, the pinnacle of which was a 2004 deal to buy a chain of Michigan newspapers for more than $400 million. [Click for MORE]

• Adviser's role at issue in Tribune bankruptcy
• Judge sets date for Tribune bankruptcy hearing in Wilmington
• In Tribune Bankruptcy, Judge Caps Sidley’s Fees at $925/hr

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Government Aid Could Save U.S. Newspapers

Connecticut lawmaker Frank Nicastro sees saving the local newspaper as his duty. But others think he and his colleagues are setting a worrisome precedent for government involvement in the U.S. press.

Nicastro represents Connecticut's 79th assembly district, which includes Bristol, a city of about 61,000 people outside Hartford, the state capital. Its paper, The Bristol Press, may fold within days, along with The Herald in nearby New Britain.

That is because publisher Journal Register, in danger of being crushed under hundreds of millions of dollars of debt, says it cannot afford to keep them open anymore. [Click for MORE]

> Should the Government Bail Out Newspapers?

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Yikes! Everyone Gets Kicked to the Curb!

> Gannett said laying off 600 newspaper employees; pub's memo says cuts among total 1,000 jobs axed
A Maryland publisher told employees late this afternoon that Gannett is eliminating 1,000 newspaper jobs, or about 3% of the troubled newspaper division's workforce -- and that about 600 employees are being laid off, a Gannett Blog reader says. [Click for MORE]

> Charges drag Tribune to $4.5 billion 2Q loss
> Trib value fell $20 million a day under Zell
> Sun-Times Media swings to 2Q loss
> Cox to sell off several newspapers, Valpak operations
> Cox to sell Austin American-Statesman, Austin360.com
> News-Journal Corp. officially for sale
> Journal Register Reports Assets of $77 Million -- And Liabilities of $719 Million
> Houston, San Antonio Dailies Discuss Joint Feature Production
> Observer offers employee buyouts
> Post Co. Reports First Operating Loss in 37 Years
> McClatchy writes down value of its 25.6% stake in Classified Ventures
> McClatchy's Lexington Herald-Leader offers yet another buyout package
> McClatchy lowers estimated value of Seattle Times to $9.9M
> Baltimore Sun to undergo a reinvention, not just a redesign

Tribune's So. Florida Sun-Sentinel: Old look, left; New look, right. [Click for DETAILS]

And The Good News?

> CNN to put "all-platform journalists" in 10 US cities
> Huffington Post's Chicago site to launch on Thursday
> Palm Beach's rich shelter the Daily News from newspaper woes Sphere: Related Content

Will Tribune Resort to Credit Lines?

There's probably no other choice, since the company (parent of the LAT) is among the many that won't have enough cash to cover debt repayments over the next two years. Credit lines become the last-ditch alternative. But even if Tribune taps its entire $750 million credit line, it still may not be able to pay back debt that matures in the next two years. By the way, Tribune bonds due in 2015 have fallen to 37 cents on the dollar. [Bloomberg]
[LA Biz Observed]

> Journal Register stock plummets on bankruptcy report
> Details on wide Seattle Times cuts emerge: Layoffs and closing bureaus
> In six months, they'll all be idiots, too
> Harbinger presses Media General Sphere: Related Content

Bankruptcy for the Journal Register Co.?

If the [Journal Register] company were to seek bankruptcy protection, as analysts said was possible, it would be a first in recent memory for a publicly traded newspaper company, John Morton, a longtime newspaper analyst, said.

“That will just add to the gloom and doom that has settled over the industry,” he said.

Journal Register owns 22 daily newspapers and 310 nondailies, mostly clustered in to six areas: Greater Philadelphia, Michigan, Connecticut, Greater Cleveland and the mid-Hudson region of New York. The company, based in Yardley, Pa., went public in 1997, and was once owned by the New York investment firm E. M. Warburg Pincus & Company. The company’s shares closed unchanged Friday at 52 cents.

“Who would have thought that a relatively substantial public newspaper company would be at risk of bankruptcy?” [Rick Edmonds, a media business analyst at the Poynter Institute,] said. “People are going to see this and say, who’s next?” [Click for MORE]

> Journal Register Co. could be delisted from NYSE
> Tribune Could Default In ‘09: Analyst
> Sector snap: Newspaper publishers slide

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Journal Register Co. Stock Price Sinks Below Cost of a Daily Newspaper

Journal Register Co. stock price sinks below cost of a daily newspaper

It's now cheaper to buy a share of Journal Register Co. than its daily newspaper in Lorain, Ohio, The Morning Journal.

Is Yahoo the right fit for newspapers?

Wall Street calls Microsoft's generously priced but unwelcome bid for Yahoo Inc. a "bear hug" -- but will it be newspapers who get squeezed? Some of the newspaper industry's new-media gurus think so. No matter who wins, they say, the fight will distract Yahoo at a crucial time in the rollout of its next-generation online ad tools for the 600-plus papers in the newspaper consortium.

Hollinger Inc. to relinquish control of Sun-Times Media Group in litigation settlement

Conrad Black's former holding company will relinquish control of the parent company of the Chicago Sun-Times under a settlement announced late Tuesday by Sun-Times Media Group (STMG).

Fitch to Tribune: Sell, Zell, sell

Tribune Co. Chairman Sam Zell's new senior management team and cost-cutting measures are unlikely to outrace deteriorating revenue, making the sale of assets like the Chicago Cubs -- and perhaps The Los Angeles Times and Newsday -- all the more critical, Fitch Ratings Service said in a report issued Tuesday.

Lawyer says fired Santa Barbara newspaper workers should be reinstated

A federal labor lawyer argued Monday that eight workers fired from the Santa Barbara News-Press should be put back on the job immediately because they are likely to prevail in their case claiming they were improperly fired for union activity.

[ChainLINKS]

> Sam, the viagra man
> Newspaper for Sale?
> Newspapers Aren't Dying
> Register Star offers buyouts to employees
> CNET lays off 120, 10 percent of U.S. workforce
> Zev on planning and the Los Angeles Times
> These are not the salad days of American newspapers

[Ed Padgett]

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