As expected, the holding company for MediaNews Group, Affiliated Media of Denver—which publishes The Denver Post, The Salt Lake Tribune, and 52 other daily newspapers—filed for bankruptcy protection in a plan meant to quickly reduce debt and boost cash flow. Reuters writes that officials say restructuring is not expected to have any impact on employees or vendors.

But in a terse editorial, The Seattle Times notes that the Bank of America, among other lenders, will enjoy an 88 percent stake in dozens of U.S. newspapers, including the Post, a move that “is not welcome.” The Times writes: “Newspapers report on the banks; they should not be owned by them. Newspapers should be independent.” The Times also chides MediaNews for its “spree” of buying newspapers on credit to meld newspaper operations, tending to create a “nationally homogenized product.”

The Times adds, “If there ever was a way to kill the American people’s appetite for newspapers, it is this. Make the paper nonlocal. Make it the same everywhere.”

Meanwhile, Westword media critic Michael Roberts provides ample evidence to support his conclusion that the Post is not a reliable source for complete information on MediaNews’ bankruptcy. For instance, the Post did not report that Singleton will receive a $634,000 salary and an annual bonus of up to $500,000 as Affiliated’s chief executive. He will also receive $360,000 annually under a separate agreement with The Denver Post Corp.

Posted 1/26/2010 at 10:00 am by Michael de Yoanna
Business, Media, Money, Panorama, People :: Permalink :: Comments (1)

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.