OC Register Parent Files Chapter 11
[Guest post by DRJ]
More tough times for newspapers as the parent company of the OC Register becomes the 10th newspaper company to file bankruptcy this year:
Freedom Communications Inc., publisher of the Orange County Register, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday after the slide in the newspaper industry and the recession made it impossible for the company to repay $770 million in debt.
Freedom Communications reportedly has 26 lenders, half of whom have already agreed to forgive $445M in debt. Led by JPMorgan Chase, the lenders will “take control and appoint a new board of directors and chief executive.”
— DRJ
JP Morgan Chase, receiver of $25 BILLION in tax payer bailout dollars graciously forgives the OC Register debt. Does that mean since the American taxpayer now ownes the OC Register through JPM/C proxy, we can expect honest reporting on the rapidly failing administration?
retire05 (3b0c33) — 9/6/2009 @ 7:03 pmYeah, they forgave half their debt! This is how the administration funnels money to their supporters: indirectly, laundered by layers of middlemen.
The OCR op-ed page is okay, but their reporting is as biased and incorrect as the LAT. They just can’t get over being second in the Southland so they try to outliberal the liberals.
Patricia (7aaa75) — 9/6/2009 @ 7:15 pmActually, the OCR lurched left in the aftermath of the OC Bankruptcy. Ken Grubbs got ousted and the Liberal Tonnie Katz replaced him. Since then, it has been a sharp leftward lurch, then the idiots wonder why their conservative readership dropped the paper.
PCD (8b5951) — 9/6/2009 @ 7:47 pmAnother local paper down for the count. Sad. It’s inevitable that most papers are going to reduce their footprints or relinquish local coverage to smaller pubs in their respective regions. They gotta just let the bigger print dinosaurs die.
DCSCA (9d1bb3) — 9/6/2009 @ 9:13 pmIf newspapers don’t wish to report the news, then why would anyone care to pay actual money to read them? And what exactly would they be reading? Classifieds? Auto ads? Country club socialite columns?
I mean… if I’m interested in propaganda, I can listen to NPR and pull up the AP’s website for free. If I’m interested in local classifieds, I can pull up Craigslist and other sites. Why on earth would I pay $35+ a month for this service I already receive?
HatlessHessian (cca288) — 9/6/2009 @ 9:19 pmSince then, it has been a sharp leftward lurch
The only reason I’d treat the bankruptcy of the OC Register differently from the bankruptcy of the owners of the LA Times is because the Register at least wasn’t a usual-suspect “progressive” publication. A parochial paper, to be sure, but if it no longer even has a refreshing POV to its credit, then it becoming another victim of the downward spiral of the print media ends up a case of tough ta-tas and no BFD.
Mark (411533) — 9/6/2009 @ 9:33 pmThe good news is that many of the employees will keep their jobs, at least for awhile. The bad news is that forgiving this much debt will cost other jobs somewhere.
DRJ (3f5471) — 9/6/2009 @ 9:42 pmIt’s a shame. I buy it during the week to read at lunch, though the news section is often so polluted with Associated Press articles that it’s no more credible than the LA Times. But the opinion page is decent for the columnists they choose. The Sports section is good, too.
Shane (99fa4b) — 9/6/2009 @ 9:56 pmAgain, I have to say that newspapers have to make themselves relevant. Cutting down trees to publish day-old news doesn’t work.
And providing the news for free on the internet doesn’t work unless you break the bonds of the old paradigm.
What makes you important, what makes you relevant, what makes you the the go-to for information? Those are the questions newspapers have to answer.
Relying on the 1970s code of being the ones afflicting may not work as well as being the ones who tell the truth — no matter what political party is in power.
Ag80 (b272f0) — 9/6/2009 @ 10:03 pmWTH! Put that RAG-paper into a PROPER Bankruptcy!Why is JPM/C forgiving this OC Rags debt? When are the Taxpayers going to get paid back by these Criminal Banksters?
WestWright (be2a2f) — 9/7/2009 @ 3:35 amI watched a local PBS show about the imminent demise of the Sun – Times, with the predictable roster of far – lefties. Of course, not one person brought up the problem of the rampant bias present in both papers here – what a surprise.
Dmac (a93b13) — 9/7/2009 @ 8:09 amOCR in BK!
AD - RtR/OS! (fad78f) — 9/7/2009 @ 9:33 amNow where will Greenhut and Bock go for employment?
@ #8: that is precisely the issue I have with most newspapers. They are nothing but outlets for the Associated Press. I’ve resided in Nashville for over four years, and can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I’ve even glanced at a Tennesseean, much less bought one.
Since most newspapers closed up their out of town bureaux, they reprint the AP. As another commenter said: AP is free all over the web, and NPR can be found on the radio dials of every Volvo and Prius on the road. Not to mention other cars, but I felt like working in a snark.
the friendly grizzly (b10310) — 9/7/2009 @ 5:50 pmYes your credit is good, but we used all the money we would have loaned out to you propping up the OC Register.
Try a loan shark.
papertiger (e9a2a0) — 9/8/2009 @ 11:16 am