Sunday, February 22, 2009

Will McClatchy be the next newspaper company to file bankruptcy?

Douglas McIntyre thinks so. Click here for details.

Most readers of this blog think MNI will file for bankruptcy in 2009.
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19 comments:

Anonymous said...

"McClatchy has $2.4 billion in debt. It is hard to see how it will be paid. Unless, that is, creditors force them to be auctioned off."


I bid 5.00 for Ronda Lokeman's spare tire. It has never been used and I'd be willing to bet it was bought on a company credit card.

Anonymous said...

...It is well that McClatchy's inevitable bankrupcy is so terrible, lest we should grow too fond of it.

Anonymous said...

“…creditors force them to be auctioned off.”

Unfortunately, MNI waited too long to put the Miami Herald up for sale. The print news industry is dying, land values are depressed, and what was once called a jewel, is now a white elephant. The bleak fate of the Herald is a true example of Pruitt’s management malpractice.

Kevin Gregory said...

MNI could make a few extra bucks by selling Rhonda Lokeman mugshots, too.

Anonymous said...

"MNI could make a few extra bucks by selling Rhonda Lokeman mugshots, too."

The funniest part about that whole thing was these people just a few months before tracked down a critic and took pictures of his house, then published them as an invitation to anyone who might want to do him harm.

Along comes Rhonda and in the Star's begrudging mention, they can't find her for comment and hubbie is not in.

Liquidation is the only acceptable terms. I need souvenirs.

Anonymous said...

Anon 5:16 Very funny. Could I pay in another form of currency?

I bid 5 Quatloos for "Three tire Lokeman"

Anonymous said...

Dude, you have me beat. After Osama bin bobbin and Nazi Pelousy's Generational Theft Act of 2009, 5 Quataloos trumps 5 bucks hands down.

Anonymous said...

What's next, playing "Roll out the barrel" while waiting for the announcement? It does feel a bit like the Titanic.

Anonymous said...

Les:
Do you know who's left on the copy desk? I can't imagine they have any wiggle room unless they eliminate copy editors and have designers edit on the page as small-town papers do. Nothing like slappin' it on the page and cutting from the bottom! Geez ...

Anonymous said...

Things just got worse for the
KC Red Star-
@ Bottom Line Communications

KC has yet another blog for news and entertaining discussions. If the Z-man stays in charge much longer, there will be -NO- interest in the Star's online rag. Flat Tire and Three Tires need to ride off into the sunset on their tired little donkey.
***
JOURNALISTS START NEW 'HENRY WIGGEN' BLOG
The former managing editor of the Kansas City Kansan and a journalism instructor at Park University have joined forces to start "The Henry Wiggen Blog"--that discusses sports, local and national journalism, Kansas City "and everything in between."
Matt Kelsey, who was laid off when the Kansan dropped its print edition last month, has joined forces with John Lofflin, his former journalism prof, to produce an interesting (and well-written) blog.

Anonymous said...

Time to dream up another Obama trinket to sell. I have heard there are several bidders for his REAL birth certificate.

Anonymous said...

"Flat Tire and Three Tires"

"Several bidders for his REAL birth certificate."

No need to pay to go to a comedy club. You guys ROCK!!!!

Anonymous said...

Nope, MNI wasn't next. Philadelphia Newspapers Inc. Inquirer and Daily News) just went Chapter 11 on Sunday night:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/02/22/national/a201140S39.DTL&tsp=1

Anonymous said...

Online traffic at McClatchy Newspapers falls by 1.2 million visitors

N & O Interview with
Joe the Plumber

Q: Why do you think McClatchy’s online traffic is falling?
A: Because they stink
Q: Would you care to expand on that answer?
A: They really stink

Anonymous said...

So Philly beats out MNI by a month or two. Not worries. The patient Vultures circle, and wait, and wait and circle.

nick said...

Philadelphia Newspapers, owner of the city's two major dailies, the Inquirer and the Daily News, has filed for bankruptcy protection, the latest casualty in the troubled US newspaper industry.

Philadelphia Newspapers, which also operates the website philly.com, said it filed for bankruptcy on Sunday under Chapter 11, which protects a company from its creditors while it restructures.

The move came a day after the Journal Register Co., publisher of 20 daily newspapers and more than 180 non-daily publications in five US states, also filed for bankruptcy.

The filings are the latest in a US newspaper industry reeling from a steep decline in print advertising revenue and the migration of readers to free news online.

Tribune Co., owner of The Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, six other dailies and 23 television stations, filed for bankruptcy in December and a Minnesota newspaper, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, filed for bankruptcy in January.

The Chicago-based Tribune Co. is the second-largest US newspaper publisher in terms of revenue and the third in terms of circulation.

Philadelphia Newspapers, which the current ownership group purchased in 2006 for 562 million dollars from the McClatchy newspaper chain, said it was seeking bankruptcy protection while it restructures 390 million dollars in debt.

"This restructuring is focused solely on our debt, not our operations," chief executive Brian Tierney said in a statement.

"Our operations are sound and profitable. We are the medium of choice in this region for advertisers and readers," he said. "Philadelphia Newspapers? goal is to bring its debt in line with the realities of the current economic and business conditions."

Both Philadelphia Newspapers and the Journal Register said they will continue normal operations during the restructuring.

"Our business will continue its normal operations and we will publish content as usual throughout this process," Journal Register chief executive James Hall said in a statement.

"We intend to emerge from the Chapter 11 process stronger, leaner and more financially viable in the current environment," he added

nick said...

I have an idea. What if Tierney sells the papers, then when the left wing cranks that ran it into the ground demand that the new owner changes nothing, the new owner just gives in? That would work, right?
... Brian Tierney is no Liberal.

Anonymous said...

What exactly will happen if Mcclatchy files bankruptcy?

Will all papers shut down?

Anonymous said...

They will submit a reorganization plan to the court and a judge will decide if it is acceptable or needs modifications.

Will the papers shut down? It all depends on the judge and the creditors. If it is inadequate and the creditors don't like it, that would be an outside possibility. Not very likely though. Whatever happens though, it will all be designed around returning as much as possible to the creditors. Shareholders and Employees get the shaft and the management usually had diminished control. In the case of McClatchy and the degree of mismanagement, they would probably lose almost all control and a special master would be appointed...unless of course they have a hand picked judge.