McClatchy: The next newspaper Chapter 11?

Posted Feb 22nd 2009 3:10PM by Douglas McIntyre
Filed under: Industry, New York Times'A' (NYT)

There has been talk that The New York Times (NYSE: NYT) may have to file for Chapter 11. The company quieted that talk by mortgaging part of its headquarters, cutting its dividend, and putting some of its New England properties up for sale.

Also, the Journal Register has gone bankrupt. It lost its NYSE listing months ago.

Which company in the newspaper industry is next?

It would be a good time to dump shares in McClatchy (NYSE: MNI), which bought the Knight-Ridder newspapers three years ago and now carries a debt load it cannot manage. Advertising revenue at its properties is dropping at the rate of 20% a year. It could have an operating loss this year. Shares in the company trade at $0.51 and may be at zero in just a few months.

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.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.

Tags: Chaper 11, Journal Register, Knight-Ridder, McClatchy, MNI, NYT

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

2-23-2009 @ 5:39AM

al coholic said...

I'm sure it took a while for people to dump their buggy whip stocks a hundred years ago too.

Let's face it. Nespapers will never be the powerhouse of investigative reporting they were iln the past. Soon they will have only a cult following.

Next to go away....TV Network News departments.