Newspaper Publisher Files for Bankruptcy

(CBS/AP)  The owner of the Orange County Register in California and dozens of other newspapers has become the latest publisher driven into bankruptcy court by a jarring drop in advertising revenue.

Freedom Communications Inc. had been struggling to bring in enough money to repay its debt for the past year. It required workers to take unpaid leave and imposed an across-the-board 5 percent cut in wages.

The privately held company is at least the 10th newspaper publisher to file for bankruptcy protection over the past year.

List of Freedom Communications newspapers:

Alton, Ill.: The Telegraph
Barstow, Calif.: Desert Dispatch
Bonifay, Fla.: Holmes County Times-Advertiser
Brownsville, Tex.: The Brownsville Herald
Burlington, N.C.: Times-News
Chipley, Fla.: Washington County News
Clovis, N.M.: Clovis News Journal
Colorado Springs, Colo.: The Gazette
Colusa, Calif.: Colusa Sun Herald
Corning, Calif.: Corning Observer
Crestview, Fla.: The Crestview News Bulletin
Destin, Fla.: The Destin Log
Fort Walton Beach, Fla.:Northwest Florida Daily News
Gastonia, N.C.: The Gaston Gazette
Harlingen, Tex.: Valley Morning Star
Havelock, N.C.: Havelock News
Hesperia, Calif.: Hesperia Star
Jacksonville, Ill.: Journal-Courier
Jacksonville, N.C.: The Daily News
Kinston, N.C.: Free Press
Lima, Ohio: The Lima News
Marysville, Calif.: Appeal-Democrat
Mesa, Ariz.: East Valley Tribune
McAllen, Tex.: The Monitor
New Bern, N.C.: Sun Journal
Odessa, Tex.: Odessa American
Panama City, Fla.: The News Herald
Portales, N.M.: Portales News-Tribune
Porterville, Calif.: The Porterville Recorder
Port St. Joe, Fla.: The Star
Santa Ana, Calif.: The Orange County Register
Santa Rosa Beach, Fla.: The Walton Sun
Sedalia, Mo.: The Sedalia Democrat
Shelby, N.C.: The Star
Surf City, N.C.: The Topsail Advertiser
Sun City, Ariz.: Daily News-Sun
Tucumcari, N.M.: Quay County Sun
Victorville, Calif.: Daily Press
Weslaco, Tex.: Mid Valley Town Crier
Willows, Calif.: Willows Journal
Yuma, Ariz.: The Sun

[rhs648]

Sky017 - I was responding to the poster's lack of concern for people losing their jobs. When TV came along, some people felt that radio would disappear. They both exist. I am in the publishing business and keep up with industry news and read industry journals. To date, very few newspapers and magazine publishers have found a way to be profitable online. In the future, both online and hard copy will probably coexist. Online gives people another option.

[Sky017]

And airplanes arrived and lots of people lost jobs in the shipping industry. Did we do our utmost to keep all those jobs in shipping? No. Such is progress. The ad money is going online or in other areas. And the airplane business created jobs in the airline industry. Same with cars replacing trains. There are web developers, system administrators, graphic artists, programmers AND JOURNALISTS who are needed to create, and manage all the alternate online content that people are turning to.

BTW PC Magazine is no longer printed and available at newsstands. But is is available online and for download.

Relax. It's the nature of evolution and progress. Is anyone complaining to go back to VHS tapes instead of DVD? Oh, sorry... you miss rewinding?! Do you prefer to get on a horse and ride to work tomorrow? Didn't think so.

[rhs648]

There goes thousands of jobs. The previous poster thinks it is great because fewer trees will be cut. Between the tree loggers losing jobs and the people who work for the newspapers losing jobs, we will see the unemployment rate go up and more people will be collecting unemployment benefits not to mention increased foreclosures and loss of income to merchants in different communities. LOL - the trees are more important than people in the eyes of some people.

[platteman]

Great, we won't need to cut as many trees to print the rag.