In an un-bylined article, the Journal Star reported on parent company GateHouse Media’s 2nd quarter statement and conference call. It’s the first coverage the PJS has given the company since the company’s stock prices fell below $1.
The article stated that GateHouse was suspending dividend payments and was going to use the money to pay down [...]

This time, the victims are the folks who rely on the McPherson (Kan.) Sentinel. And the press release they printed on the front page makes it sound like just another run of the mill business decision, much like switching from brand-name coffee to the generic stuff in the cafeteria.
But they ARE going to update the [...]

GateHouse Media — which closed at 44 cents a share on Friday — opened at 60 cents, then dropped down to 40 cents. It hovered around 43 cents most of the day. Two minutes before closing, Marketwatch was telling me the stock was worth 40 cents, but at close, the stock had rallied to 50 [...]

The New York Times writes about how no one wants to buy newspaper companies anymore. Of course, GateHouse Media’s woes get a mention. But they saved the money paragraph for the last:
Despite the long-term challenges, analysts and bankers think that buyers will return to the newspaper market, though they may be outnumbered by people who [...]

The lovely and talented Marie Carnes set me an email with an observation: Most bankruptcies are filed in court during the first week of the month. So, if GateHouse Media is to inclined, we might hear about it within the next seven days.
Marie predicts that the company would probably declare Chapter 11, which would allow [...]

I’ve gotten used to the sound of silence from the local media when it comes to bad financial news regarding local media.
So I was a bit surprised with I saw this link to bad news about GateHouse Media coming from, of all places, a GateHouse Media newspaper.
Alas, all I’m getting is page-cannot-be-found message.
However, I did [...]

From Editor & Publisher:
GateHouse Media is likely to default under its credit agreement unless it can negotiate an amendment to its covenants or get a cash injection from its largest stakeholder, Moody’s Investor Service says in a report downgrading the community newspaper publisher’s credit and probability of default ratings.
and
GateHouse could bump up against loan covenants, [...]

On the first trading day after its stock reached a new low, GateHouse Media saw the value of its stock plummet to an all-new low of 66 cents a share. The stock rebounded to 90 cents a share, less than what’s needed to avoid delisting on the New York Stock Exchange.
The drop is being blamed [...]

The folks who are boycotting the Norwich (Connecticut) Bulletin are fighting back by offering news via hyper-local citizen journalism. The complaints? Censored and poorly edited letters to the editor, fact errors, ignoring legitimate news, boosterism in editorials.
My two cents: Some of the complaints seem to be of a partisan nature, which is fine. But you can’t [...]

Here’s a start-of-the-work-week tour of the Blogosphere:

Long before GateHouse Media bought the Peoria Journal Star, I was writing about how Peoria’s only daily newspaper skewed its editorials and coverage to promote some local candidates at the expense of others (here’s one example, out of many). According to this site, another GateHouse newspaper is getting in [...]

Here’s some links to keep readers amused as I look for a guest for Sunday’s radio show about litter:
From Chef Kevin’s site, this email he received about the downtown museum:
 ”…seems to me if they can’t do the marketing and promotions to raise enough money to BUILD the museum, why should anyone expect they’d be able [...]

Jim Cramer, the easily agitated host of CNBC’s “Mad Money” program, doesn’t think much of GateHouse Media or the investment company that owns it:
Fortress Investment Group’s IPO might have been a boon for its partners, Cramer said, but it was a bust for investors.
Chairman and CEO Wesley Edens cashed in over $200 million in stock [...]

This time, it’s eight at the Pittsburg Morning Sun in Kansas.
Hat tip: The Turner Report.
Note to newspaper Web designers: Time and again, I come across newspaper Web sites that do not state anywhere on the front page the city and state in which the newspaper is located. I had to do a Google search to [...]

Via the Rockford Register-Star:
Inez Harris, Rockford Register Star human resources manager, has been named to the top human resources position at the State Journal-Register newspaper in Springfield, State Journal-Register Publisher Scott Bowers announced today.
Harris, 48, has held the human resources manager position at the Register Star — second-in-command at its HR department — since 2005, [...]

Who said this?
As for me, I think one of the reasons quality journalism is in retreat these days is because we haven’t spent enough time and effort truly covering our communities. We spend way too much time on he-said, she-said local political scandals and deadly dull town council meetings and not enough time really showing [...]