Archive for the ‘bankruptcy watch’ Category

Consumer Reports mulls layoffs

Wednesday, July 8th, 2009

The not-for-profit Consumer Reports magazine may have to resort to layoffs, the New York post is reporting.

The magazine — perennially profitable from its 9 million subscribers for print and online products — expects an operating loss next year due to the recession’s erosion of its customer base.

The magazine, owned by the not-for-profit Consumers Union, doesn’t accept advertising and isn’t dependent on shrinking ad dollars.
— Bad job reviews and Consumer Reports NY Post 7 Jul 2009

It shows that while not-for-profits do have a cushion in their operations, the stormy waters may sink all kinds of boats.

Posted in bankruptcy watch, not for profit | 1 Comment »

One more week

Sunday, May 10th, 2009

Canwest, the embattled Canadian newspaper publisher, got an extension, again, on its debt payment. One more week until I find out whether my first ever stock investment (all $25-worth) is going down the toilet.

Posted in bankruptcy watch | 1 Comment »

Canwest gets a tiny breather

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009

Canwest got a two-week extension aimed at staving off filing for bankruptcy.  If the company doesn’t make its current interest payment, creditors could force it bankrupt.

This is scary stuff. The company owns dozens of newspapers and television channels across the country.

To say nothing of my whopping investment — 25 shares bought early this year when the company had reached what I determined to be the rock-bottom price of 80 cents. It’s now sitting at 31.

(Wow, the ire of Globe reader comments on this story is surprising — and Toronto-centric, I think. If the company really shut down, Vancouver would lose its two dailies, and papers in Victoria, Edmonton, Calgary, Regina, Saskatoon, Ottawa and Montreal would close, apart from the National Post and a couple of dozen community papers. Even if you’re unhappy with their editorial policy, that’s a huge bite out of the body of journalism being done in Canada every day. Here’s a list of Canwest-owned papers.)

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Goodbye Rocky Mountain News

Wednesday, March 4th, 2009

The Rocky Mountain News published its last issue last week. RIP.

Until now, the loss of so many of the nation’s newspapers due to the lousy economy and technological changes seemed to be something that happened to other people in far away places.

This past Thursday, it got personal. On that day, E.W. Scripps Co. officials announced that the Rocky Mountain News would publish its last edition on Friday, Feb. 27. No buyer had come forth to purchase the Denver newspaper, which had been put up for sale in December. With that, Colorado’s oldest newspaper — a couple of months shy of its 150th anniversary — was shut down, idling 230 employees.
–Loss of Rocky Mountain News is heartbreaking, Deseret News, March 3

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Introducing Bankruptcy Watch

Thursday, February 26th, 2009

Today marks the beginning of a special section we’re calling Bankruptcy Watch here at WorkingTitle. The news of struggling, and failing, media organizations is overwhelming, now coming daily. We’ll endeavour to keep track of it all here for you, under the Bankruptcy Watch category.

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