Four years ago, the Journal Register (JRC) was a group of thriving community newspapers with a stock price above $25 and a $1 billion market cap. Now, it's a shell of a company whose equity is worth all of $10 million, is getting booted off the New York Stock Exchange, and whose stock is trading at $0.16 (yes, that's 16 cents).
Could it be that the Journal Register was just horrifically mismanaged and that other newspapers will find a happier route out of the current Craigslist-and-Internet-news-sponsored mess? It could be. As newspaper guru Alan Mutter notes (below), what is delivering the death-blow to JRC is its gigantic pile of debt.
On the other hand, other newspapers have piles of debt, too, and their managements seem similarly disinclined to open their eyes to the long term reality. So perhaps the Journal Register is just a sign of things to come. McClatchy (MNI), Gannett (GCI), Tribune, New York Times(NYT), Belo, Lee, et al, take note.
Related:
What went wrong at the Journal Register
