The government needs to bail out the newspaper industry!

[Kurt]

Who's going to buy a subscription to a paper whose company is bankrupt?

There will be a ripple effect, too. If the paper in Chicago and LA went bankrupt and didn't honor their subscriptions, what's to stop the paper in Sacramento from doing the same thing?

And if one big paper chain stops paying for newsprint, the newsprint makers will go out of business, and you will have a catastrophic chain reaction that could bring the country to its knees.

Think of all the millions of jobs tied to the newspaper industry, from paper boys to the loggers who cut down the trees that are turned into newsprint.

Newspaper executives have been working very hard on adjusting their business models and I'm sure a loan of a few billion dollars would tide over this important industry until better times and save tens of thousands of jobs!

Newspaper bailout now!

It's not too late to save the country!

The Tribune Company filed for bankruptcy protection in a federal court in Delaware on Monday, as the publisher of newspapers like The Los Angeles Times and The Chicago Tribune struggled to cope with rising debt and falling ad revenue.

Tribune, which was acquired last year by billionaire real estate investor Samuel Zell, had hired bankruptcy advisers in recent weeks as it negotiated with creditors over debt covenants. (Read the bankruptcy petition here.)

It is only the latest — and biggest — sign of duress for the newspaper industry yet. Several newspaper companies have struggled to cope with declining revenues and mounting debt woes. Tribune has pared back the newsrooms of many of its papers, and it sold off Newsday to Cablevision’s Dolan family earlier this year.

In a court filing, Tribune said it had nearly $13 billion in debt, compared to $7.6 billion in assets. Most of that debt was taken on when Mr. Zell acquired the company — a deal he struck using mostly borrowed money. All of the now privately held company’s equity is owned by an employee stock-ownership plan.

While Tribune must contend with hefty interest payments over the next year, its most pressing problem is a maintenance covenant on some of its debt that limits the company’s borrowings to no more than nine times earnings before interest, depreciation and amortization.

Even if the company continues to make interest payments, failure to maintain that level of debt means technical default — which does not always lead to a bankruptcy filing. Other newspaper publishers have halted making interest payments on their debt, but have yet to file.

The top creditors listed by Tribune in its court filing include big banks like JPMorgan Chase, Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank. JPMorgan listed some of the firms it had syndicated its debt to as well; that list comprises private investment firms like Kohlberg Kravis Roberts’s KKR Financial, Highland Capital Management and Davidson Kempner Capital Management.

A CreditSights analyst, Jake Newman, wrote in a research report published last month that Tribune avoided technical default in the third quarter partially through some accounting adjustments. “We think the company will have difficulty meetings its year-end covenant compliance,” Mr. Newman wrote.

Tribune has sought to ameliorate its woes by selling off assets like the Chicago Cubs, the company still faces a looming debt crunch. Tribune hired Lazard several weeks ago to assess its options, these people said. It also hired Sidley Austin, a longtime outside adviser to Tribune that has a well-respected bankruptcy practice as well.

In its filing Monday, Tribune also said that it has retained Alvarez & Marsal, a restructuring adviser, as a consultant. Alvarez & Marsal is also advising Lehman Brothers, the collapsed investment bank whose filing was the largest corporate bankruptcy in American history.

Tribune’s problems have long been reflected in the price of its bonds. Tribune bonds maturing Aug. 15, 2010 with a 4.88 percent coupon traded at $13.25 on Friday, suggesting severe levels of distress.

[Burtonridr]

Sorry, they are not to big to fail... and my guess is that unfortunately they will fail.

[Kurt]

Originally Posted by Burtonridr

Sorry, they are not to big to fail... and my guess is that unfortunately they will fail.

All they need is a little more money to buy a little time to complete their restructuring plans! Compared to the financial industry and the auto industry it would be a pittance to the government, and think of all the jobs that would be saved! We can't afford to let this vital industry with all its jobs fail!

[Mike Butt]

You'd think of all that ad revenue from the last elections they'd set for some time.

[Burtonridr]

Originally Posted by Kurt

All they need is a little more money to buy a little time to complete their restructuring plans! Compared to the financial industry and the auto industry it would be a pittance to the government, and think of all the jobs that would be saved! We can't afford to let this vital industry with all its jobs fail!

I feel for the people... these economic times are trying, but damn it what precedence have we set and what precedence are we setting!

"Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship." ~Benjamin Franklin

We have a HUGE fuckin leak!