Save Our Press

Read the grim news and send me your thoughts. It’s also on Romenesko’s blog.

This news comes on the heels of bad news for The New Haven Register, the flagship paper of the Journal Register Co., a publicly traded newspaper chain that could seek bankruptcy protection, according to a story in last Saturday’s New York Times.

The Journal Register’s troubles are mainly related to the heavy debt it took on four years ago when it paid $415 million for several Michigan dailies, which have declined in value as auto manufacturers in Detroit slashed their advertising budgets. The New York Times article quotes Rick Edmonds, a media business analyst at the Poynter Institute.

“This is the year that maybe those companies that are highly leveraged can’t make their debt payments, and Journal Register could be the first,” Edmonds said. “Who would have thought that a relatively substantial public newspaper company would be at risk of bankruptcy? People are going to see this and say, who’s next?”