McClatchy steaming toward bankruptcy

Here's a repost of my June 10, 2008 post: The McClatchy Train Wreck. After that below the star line there "the latest" from McClatchy Watch and a few of my comments.

The McClatchy Train Wreck

At McClatchy Watch there’s more news of “the slow motion McClatchy train wreck.”

This time the news is the Charlotte Observer’s just announced job cuts.

You can read about them in this McC Watch post which also has links to previous posts on McClatchy’s decline.

McC Watch does an outstanding job covering McClatchey, America’s second (or maybe third) largest newspaper chain whose papers include the liberal/leftist “Anything for Obama” Raleigh News & Observer.

I’ve only one disagreement with McC Watch’s latest post.

I don’t think we’re watching a slow motion wreck.

McClatchy’s on the fast track to disaster.

Within the last 5 years its stock has traded in the mid 70s.

According to AOL Money & Finance McClatchy (symbol mni) closed yesterday, June 9, @ 7.81, down from its 52-week high of 28.73 and just above its 52-week low of 7.77.

McClatchy is loaded with debt; its bonds are rated junk; and its ad revenues are declining. So is print circulation at just about all its papers.

A blog friend who knows something about finance and a lot about the newspaper business says he won’t be surprised to see McClatchy declare bankruptcy before the end of this calendar year.

Meanwhile, McClatchy's business plan seems to be: "More steam, engineer."
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