Media: More doom-and-gloom for the dead-tree news business
Three items of interest:
The Bloomington Pantagraph is is trouble:
Lee Enterprises Inc., the parent company of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch [and the Pantagraph], said Monday that its independent auditor would probably raise concern about the future of the company when Lee files its annual report by year’s end.
KPMG has told the Davenport, Iowa-based publisher that it will file a “going concern” statement unless Lee can refinance $306 million in debt by the end of December. Typically, auditors issue such a statement as a warning that a company may fail.
If you are the Milwaukee Journal and you’ve eliminated 169 jobs since August, what’s your next step? Why, you sign former CEO Paul Bonaiuto to a consulting contract that pays $400 an hour for 20 hours a month for the next two years.
And this news is disturbing. The editor of a GateHouse Media -owned newspaper in Murphysboro was arrested on child pornography charges. And before anyone asks: Yes, I have seen the photo. Yes, I do see the resemblance.
Corrections are sometimes just as funny as the original mistakes:
Wil Wheaton (of Star Trek: The Next Generation) would like you to know that he does not and will not endorse AAA Insurance. UPDATE: We initially reported that Mr. Wheaton disliked all of AAA. Not so. He tells us:
“I’m happy with the rest of the AAA services I’ve used, and continue to use. The insurance, though, can eat a bag of dicks.”
We regret the error.
You keep being classy, Wesley.
December 18th, 2008 at 3:47 am
Thanks for that Murphysboro American story. I have family in Southern Illinois and visit the Jackson County seat fairly often.
The American is one of a number of pretty worthless former American Publishing (Hollinger) papers in Little Egypt that are now part of GateHouse. Lee’s Southern Illinoisan, based in Carbondale, is by far the dominant paper in that part of the state and, from what I’ve seen, the only one that does serious journalism.
Lee’s problems are just another wake-up call for the industry. Lee has traditionally run a tight ship financially and hasn’t been nearly as susceptible as other chains to overspending in good times. But the Pulitzer purchase was extraordinarily bad timing.
December 18th, 2008 at 7:59 am
1. Will Wheaton is pretty funny.
2. My understanding is that the unionization issue @ Pantagraph has pretty much been dropped.
December 18th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Will Wheaton? This requires the obligatory clown sweater:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/35/73045884_1a118b3b66.jpg
December 18th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Mahkno,
I haven’t laughed that hard in quite a while.
December 18th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
You have to go with the classic, Shut Up Wesley!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX8NsJn_KpM
December 18th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
4.5¢ a share for Gatehouse Media !!!!
December 18th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Museum folks ran a very push orientated poll this eve. Had a good 30 second to full minute intro about how great the education benefits would be, how much revenue it would bring in (14 million), how many jobs it would create (150 union jobs), its 86% paid for so far, and how low a burden it would be (25 cents per…).
Would you support a sales tax increase? Mmm no.
What if it were tied to other public service like firefighting and police? Mmmm… no.
What if the tax were only temporary, to expire at some point? LOL… Civic Center? … MMmmm No…
Done.
December 18th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
sorry… 250 union jobs… my bad.
December 19th, 2008 at 12:19 am
[...] commentator Mahkno has left a most interesting comment on the Peoria Pundit website that I’m going to shamelessly steal and quote in its entirety here: Museum folks ran a very [...]
December 20th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
Will Wheaton, where have you gone? Oh, obscurity. My bad. Loved ‘Stand By Me.’
December 20th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Want a more obscure and twisted celebrity page? Remeber Billy from ‘Predator?’? http://www.sonnylandham.com/