Tribune Co. Files for Bankruptcy

Tribune Co. files for bankruptcy

Chicago-based media conglomerate says it will stay in business throughout its debt restructuring.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Media conglomerate Tribune Co., publisher of the Chicago Tribune, announced Monday it is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The Chicago-based company said the restructuring focuses on the company's $13 billion debt, not on its operations. The company said its businesses will remain in operation throughout the restructuring of its debt obligations.

"Factors beyond our control have created a perfect storm - a precipitous decline in revenue and a tough economy coupled with a credit crisis that makes it extremely difficult to support our debt," said Sam Zell, chief executive of Tribune, in a statement. "We believe that this restructuring will bring the level of our debt in line with current economic realities, and will take pressure off our operations."

Real estate mogul Zell took the company private in December 2007 for close to $13 billion. The company said it has enough cash to continue its operations and listed $7.6 billion in assets under the bankruptcy filing.

Zell and the Tribune Co. have faced wide criticism and legal battles since going private. Employees said the move compromised their stock holdings and the public has complained that Zell's deal has exempted the company from paying corporate income taxes.

The company has suffered since the deal, but mainly because the newspaper advertising market has dried up over the past year.

In a letter to Tribune Co. employees, Zell said the company faces several headwinds but will cut costs when it can during uncertain times.

"Our challenges are consistent with those facing all media companies, and an increasing number of companies across a variety of industries today," said Zell in the letter. "We will continue to operate responsibly in a challenging environment - aggressively managing costs and maximizing revenue opportunities."

Besides the Tribune, Tribune Co. owns such newspapers as the Los Angeles Times and Baltimore Sun, as well as television and radio stations across the nation.

It said last December that it is looking to sell the Chicago Cubs, the Major League Baseball franchise it owns. The Cubs was not one of the businesses included in the company's bankruptcy filing.

Indy Star Layoffs Less Severe Than First Thought

Indy Star cuts layoff estimate nearly in half

Publisher Michael Kane has just told employees that The Indianapolis Star now expects to lay off fewer than 55 employees by early next month vs. his earlier estimate of up to 95.

In a memo, Kane says: "As we sorted through our options -- which included examining every alternative besides reducing staff -- I now believe we can limit our reductions to fewer than 55 employees in early December.''

Kane's note suggests it's possible to meet Corporate's 10% workforce reduction in ways that aren't limited to cutting payroll. In any case, 55 positions would be 5% of the Star's approximately 1,100 jobs.

Tribune Prepares for Possible Bankruptcy Filing

Tribune prepares for possible bankruptcy filing: WSJ

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Publisher and broadcaster Tribune Co. is preparing for a possible bankruptcy-protection filing as soon as this week, The Wall Street Journal reported on its website on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Tribune Co., whose newspapers include the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times, in recent days has hired Lazard Ltd. as its financial adviser and a legal counsel for a possible trip through bankruptcy court, the paper reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Messages left with Tribune and Lazard were not immediately returned.

The Journal, which cited a Tribune spokesman saying the company doesn't comment on rumors or speculation. It said a Lazard spokesman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The paper said Tribune has been on wobbly footing since last December, when real-estate mogul Sam Zell led a debt-backed deal to take the company private.

Tribune so far has stayed ahead of its $12 billion in borrowings with the help of asset sales, but dwindling profits are now tightening the noose, it said. The company's cash flow may not be enough to cover nearly $1 billion in interest payments this year, and Tribune owes a $512 million debt payment in June, the paper said.

(Reporting by Megan Davies; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Strong Local-Interest Feature Story

This is a really good example of a feel-good, take-social-action local feature story. It was written by a professor journalism at a Christian college, who writes this column for his local town paper. Notice the story's structure, and the strong push for involvement at the end.

Face to Faith

S.J. Dahlman
6 Dec 2008
Johnson City (Tenn.) Press


It would be a stretch to say that a bedbug infestation was the best thing that could happen at the John Sevier Center, but the effort to get rid of the pests may have planted a community where one didn't exist before.

The center, which provides reduced-rent housing for about 140 people living on low incomes, was invaded by bedbugs about 18 months ago. Cleanliness or economics have little to do with the problem. Some of New York's finest hotels get them.

Last month every room in the John Sevier Center was fumigated, requiring all residents to pack their belongings, toss infested furniture and move out for a night. The task could have been a logistical and financial nightmare for the residents and the owners of the building, M & M Properties. The job went almost flawlessly, however, thanks to a little help from friends - a couple of them in particular.

Rich and Dori Gorman, who worked in urban ministry in their hometown of Savannah, Ga., moved here two years ago to attend Emmanuel School of Religion. As they asked around where they could serve the community, their minister pointed them to the John Sevier Center, where a lot of lonely people live. Rich and Dori started visiting there three times a week.

"We just wanted the people there to know someone cared about them, spending time with them, listening to their stories," Rich, 35, explained. "These are wonderful people who are incredibly gifted and talented, but they haven't had an opportunity to have that reaffirmed or to be in an environment to have their gifts flourish."

Soon they noticed other needs. Many residents lacked transportation, and so the Gormans started borrowing a church van every Friday to ferry people to Wal-Mart and doctors' offices. Then they realized many residents barely knew their neighbors, and so they started showing movies on Friday nights in a commons area, complete with popcorn.

From that has grown a five-night-a-week schedule of Bible studies, financial counseling and social events. To manage this expanding agenda, the Gormans, with three of their friends, formed a small ministry organization, the Friends at John Sevier.

The benefits, the Gormans insist, don't flow in one direction. It's not a ministry to residents as much as a ministry with residents, Rich said.

"My life has been changed more by the John Sevier Center than I've changed any individual," Dori, 26, said. "It's an opportunity to see what God can do in your life."

It didn't take long for the ministry to talk with M&M about the bedbug problem, but it took a few months of conversation to work out a plan. The owners committed to pay for the extermination (including a one-year follow-up), and the Friends at John Sevier put the word out to local churches, asking for help.

The response was breathtaking. During two weeks in November, more than 700 volunteers from 10 congregations worked floor by floor to help residents pack their belongings, remove their furniture, move to a hotel for an overnight stay paid by Good Samaritan Ministries, and then move back in. At least 10 local companies donated goods and services or sold them at cost. The Friends ministry has also collected more than $16,000 toward a goal of $22,000 to help residents replace their furniture.

"The best thing that's come out of this," Rich said, "is that there's more sense of community. Something profound has happened in the sense of residents taking care of one another. Every day, there's some small thing."

That sense of community, he thinks, is starting to reach beyond the doors of the center.

"This project hasn't just helped the John Sevier Center. It's helped downtown," he said. "It's in the way churches stepped up and got acquainted with downtown in a new way."

He hopes the acquaintance grows, with more churches, groups and individuals "adopting" residents of the center as new friends.

"A lot of residents felt like they were drowning," Rich said. "Then for the churches to come in and say, 'It's going to be OK. We'll walk with you. You're not going to drown' - that's been an amazing thing. I think God wants to care for the people there, to be the hands and feet of Christ at the John Sevier Center."

To find out more about getting involved with the John Sevier Center, phone (423) 926-3161 or e-mail FriendsAtJohnSevier@yahoo.com .

____

S.J. Dahlman is associate professor of communications at Milligan College. You can reach him at sjdahlman@milligan.edu .

-30-

Why Did the Mainstream Press Miss This?

From Religion & Ethics RNS blog:

Jeff Sharlet over at The Revealer notes that the celebrants who say they created a new Anglican province Wednesday blew a shofar (Jewish ritual horn) at the worship service following the announcement. Apparently, only Christianity Today reported this detail.

Sharlet asks "Why did the mainstream press ignore this unusual detail? Did it strike the NYT as too absurd? The Washington Post as simply confusing? I suspect this may be a case of the press neatening up some strange religion for broad public consumption."

I suspect a more mundane rationale: deadlines. The story broke late in the day, (the press conference ended around 7:30 p.m. EST), and most east coast reporters probably were trying to finish their stories and did not attend the worship service. CT, a weekly based in Chicago, had a little more time, and so did attend.

Sharlet's larger point, however, about the popularity of the shofar in evangelical circles, is worth noting.

Read the original LA Times article by clicking here.

Tough Layoffs in Twin Cities Media

From the StarTrib. See the entire article here.

KSTP, Star Tribune announce job cuts

The Star Tribune told its staff that it will eliminate up to 25 newsroom jobs through buyouts or layoffs. KSTP-TV is expected to lay off up to 18 newsroom staffers.

By NEAL JUSTIN , Star Tribune

The local media's holiday season just got a little bluer. The Star Tribune told its staff Thursday that it will eliminate up to 25 newsroom jobs through buyouts or layoffs. KSTP-TV, the Twin Cities' ABC affiliate, is expected to announce major cuts this morning during an all-station meeting. Insiders project at least 18 of those layoffs will come from the newsroom. The casualties confirmed Thursday include producer Dana Benson, who recently filled in as news director, and investigative reporter Kristi Piehl, who has won two Emmys during her three years at the station.

"I was told that my news director and other people went to bat for me, but that this was a decision made by Rob Hubbard," said Piehl, referring to the independently owned station's general manager. "I do owe him and his family a lot. They gave me the opportunity. I'm not angry, just surprised." Piehl will best be remembered for her series on the "Smiley Face Killers," which landed her a guest appearance on "Good Morning, America."

Hubbard and current news director Lindsay Radford did not return phone calls Thursday.

Others that were given their walking papers include photojournalists, producers and technicians.

The news came on the heels of layoffs of at least seven people at WCCO-AM radio, including sports reporter Dan Terhaar and part-time reporter Roshini Rajkumar.

The buyouts at the Star Tribune are part of $30 million in cost cuts by the company, a figure that includes $20 million in labor savings from its unionized workers.

"As you all know, the Star Tribune is under severe pressure to align its costs with its revenue in what is clearly the most challenging economic environment any of us has ever faced," Editor Nancy Barnes said in an e-mail distributed to the news staff. "Those efforts are already under way in every corner of the company."

Thomas Nelson Cuts Ten Percent

From Christianity Today:

Thomas Nelson Cuts 10 Percent
Sales of religious books have declined by 8.9 percent this year.

Sarah Pulliam

Christian book publisher Thomas Nelson cut 10 percent of its workforce today, Michael S. Hyatt, President and CEO of the company wrote on his blog.

The company laid off 54 employees, the second round of layoffs at Thomas Nelson this year.

Wendy Lee writes at The Tennessean that sales of religious books alone have declined by 8.9 percent year to date, according to Subtext, a newsletter published by Open Book Publishing Inc.

In April, the company cut roughly 60 of its 600-plus employees at the time as it trimmed the number of book titles it publishes by half.

The decline in religious book sales follows a robust period for the sector from 2002 to 2006.

Another Christian publishing company, Zondervan, cut 18 positions earlier this year.