Patterico's Pontifications

12/7/2008

L.A. Times Parent Company to File for Bankruptcy?

Filed under: Dog Trainer — Patterico @ 6:35 pm



MediaMemo reports:

One of the country’s biggest newspapers may be headed for bankruptcy court.

Tribune Co., which owns the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and host of other media properties, has hired the Lazard investment bank and law firm Sidley Austin to try to stave off a Chapter 11 financing, both the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times report. But that may not be enough: The WSJ says owner Sam Zell, who took on some $8 billion in debt to buy the company last year, is preparing for a possible bankruptcy filing “as soon as this week”.

As the article says, there’s more at the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.

Thanks to Huey and redc1c4. And Tom Hynes. And others.

UPDATE: The L.A. Times confirms at this link that bankruptcy is a possibility.

UPDATE x2: Still more, again from the New York Times.

UPDATE x3: The Washington Post plans to run this article on the front page tomorrow.

10 Responses to “L.A. Times Parent Company to File for Bankruptcy?”

  1. Yay!

    greg (34de70)

  2. well, if they consolidate the reporting functions to smaller, less expensive office space in business parks, or from home offices, then you could sell the big buildings for development, and make enough to pay some of the debt off. the Times building would make a great loft and shops complex.

    outsource the printing function to the same people who already do the WSJ, NYT, etc…. you might get lucky and get them to buy your printing locations.

    hell, get rid of most of the writing staff and just pay whomever submits worthwhile copy over the internet: post the subjects you want coverage on and wait for the replies. you just need a few copy editors, and someone to sell the ads.

    No LA Times? No great loss…..

    redc1c4 (27fd3e)

  3. I am so happy for them

    NYT and Washington Post please.

    Maybe if they stopped slanting everything I might actually buy the paper occasionally.

    Da'Shiznit (089453)

  4. What’s odd is that the same propagandy newspapers what lurvs the greasy unions unions unions and what have been out front making the case that no one would buy a car from a bankrupt automaker don’t seem to see a problem with people committing ad dollars to a bankrupt dirty socialist propaganda newspaper nobody reads like the Los Angeles Times. It must be cause Detroit doesn’t have Joel Stein I bet.

    happyfeet (5836ae)

  5. Wow, the sad little man in the grocery store is going to be out of his miserable job. He must have gotten laid off from some real job to get the coveted “please, please subscribe to this paper or I will starve” LAT job.

    Patricia (ee5c9d)

  6. Any luck a conservative buys one of these papers (Union and Debt Free) and slowly crushes the nut sacks of all these degenerate liberal writers and editors who fabricate news?

    Da'Shiznit (089453)

  7. Here’s an interesting question: What major US city do you think will be the first to have no local daily newspaper at all?

    LA and Chicago certainly have to have the edge, but I’m not sure they’re a lock.

    Steven Den Beste (99cfa1)

  8. EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT. HARD TIMES HITS TIMES. I can think of several fat cat managers at the LAT who should get fired immediately.

    DCSCA (d8da01)

  9. So shilling for Obama doesn’t really pay much, it was just a waste of ink and paper.

    Maybe it is time to cancel my subscription, but I like the sports section even though it really sucks lately.

    And the paper is almost just advertisements as of late.

    ML (14488c)

  10. Sidley Austin? Isn’t that the firm where Michelle Obama worked and Barack interned?

    arch (421638)


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