14 Newspaper Bankruptcies SPELE Broken Biz Model
The news of newspaper bankruptcy drips out here and there. Prepackaged bankruptcy here, another Tribune hearing there, new ownership group picks new publisher up north. It’s astounding, though, to note the total number of US newspaper companies: 14. As big as the Tribune, MediaNews (Affiliated Media, officially), the Star Tribune and the Philly papers and as small as Triple Crown Media, Vancouver’s Columbian and Heartland Publications. In context, that’s a forced march from one era to another, jettisoning debt built in by acquisitions and/or investments that just won’t pay off in revenue. In short, the 14 represent the corporate do-over plan: What we were doing didn’t work; maybe our next evolving business model will.