NEWSFLASH!!! SHOCK?!? KANSAS CITY STAR PARENT COMPANY McCLATCHY FINALLY FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY!!!



Very much like our crush on hottie Gemma, this dead-tree inevitability has been a long time in the making . . .

With a special thanks to about a dozen readers who send us word at around 5 in the AM, here's a quick look at what the MSM is saying and the elusive promise that "digital" will save the company when it hasn't managed to turn their fortunes around so far.

CNN: Newspaper chain McClatchy files for bankruptcy

McClatchy D.C. - McClatchy files bankruptcy to shed costs of print legacy and speed shift to digital

The Hill: McClatchy, nation's second-largest newspaper company, files for bankruptcy

Money line:

"The Chapter 11 filing will allow McClatchy to restructure its debts and, it hopes, shed much of its pension obligations. Under a plan outlined in its filing to a federal bankruptcy court, about 60 percent of its debt would be eliminated as the news organization tries to reposition for a digital future.

"The likely new owners, if the court accepts the plan, would be led by hedge fund Chatham Asset Management LLC. They would operate McClatchy as a privately held company. More than 7 million shares of both publicly available and protected family-owned stock would be canceled."

Translation:

THIS ISN'T GOOD NEWS & DOESN'T SIGNAL A TURNAROUND, INSTEAD LOOK FOR MORE NEWSPAPER LAYOFFS AS CORPORATE RAIDERS MERCILESSLY CUT COSTS!!!

There's a myth put out there by old school newsies that the corporate structure is dragging the local paper down -- That's pure spin from people who don't understand any business and/or their own. Without the debt that McClatchy has suffered, The Star would've been toast YEARS ago and never would have been to hang on to pensions and other obligations for this long. Finally, their money losing operation is now forced to pay up OR, at the very least, account for their FAIL.

And so . . .

Imagining terms like "speed shift" is nice but it's just another euphemism for "firings" as this paper looks to get even skinnier as 2020 moves forward.

Developing . . .

Comments

  1. 10 years ago this would have brought applause from Conservatives. Now I'm pretty sure that most of them will barely notice the news on their Twitter feed.

    ReplyDelete
  2. "shed much of its pension obligations"


    Ouch

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  3. The radical leaders of the Star ruined the company! I am sad to see the hard working folks that just worked have to suffer from the radicals mismanagement and total disregard for the rule of decent journalism!

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  4. "Finally, their money losing operation is now forced to pay up."

    You can just admit you don't understand what a Chapter 11 filing is, does, or accomplishes.

    It's ok.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pro Forma Your Wife2/13/20, 8:46 AM

      ^^^^ Probably a metaphor for financial consequences but please bore us with your accounting knowledge. I'm sure it would entertain us all @8:39. Might even substitute for your lack of friends. We're all waiting to hear from you!

      Delete
  5. Good Riddance.

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  6. Plaza will likely be the next bankruptcy in the near future.

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  7. Looks like KC now has a blueprint for shedding it's $700-million pension funding shortfall.

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  8. Gannet Janet2/13/20, 8:55 AM

    This is a good thing for Kansas City and for other businesses. The Star has been done nothing but propagate and elitist agenda and boost the fortunes of politicians who did them favors. They deserve to go out of business, they were a company with very little community interest.

    I only feel sorry for some of the very thoughtful workers who labored here and were forced to do the bidding of incompetent managers who obviously helped lead the company into ruin.

    ReplyDelete
  9. ^^^ So maybe like 5 people?

    I guess the truck drivers, clerical and printing staff are getting screwed on this deal as well. Too bad editorial staff probably won't pay the price, they're the ones who really led the paper down the path to oblivion.

    ReplyDelete
  10. ^^^ OK Boomer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Boomer, bitches2/13/20, 2:01 PM

      Oh Millie, let me explain how the world works. We own It, you want it. By the way Millie=Millennial, man bun wearing, latte sipping half fag. One piece of advice, don't address an an old man as boomer in person, he'll bitch slap you.

      Delete
  11. ^^^^ Dead meme.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I’m surprised some dummy hasn’t come on here and blamed Trump, where is that moron who makes everything about our glorious president at?

    ReplyDelete
  13. ^^^ Either in the White House or at Mar-A-Lago.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Don't think this is a good thing they're dying. Already we see the local government isn't accountable for anything and this will only make it worse.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ^^^^^^
      ^^^^^^

      Well, the punchline there Francis is that City Hall or Jackson County was never accountable for much. The Star only served itself, they were never a watchdog, more of a guard dog for the status quo.

      Delete
  15. Bring back Hoops, Mary Sanchez, and Looney Doogood.
    They'll save the day!
    Hahahahaha!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. ^^^^^ Lol!

    But at least we know who they are. The current crop of writers haven't made much of a mark at all. Even Helling's columns are nice but largely ignored. They wither behind the paywall.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Never saw it coming

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  18. "THIS ISN'T GOOD"

    Like fuck it isn't. Fuck that place

    ReplyDelete
  19. The Russians are responsible.

    ReplyDelete
  20. The Star quit reporting news years ago, and became a political mouthpiece that gave 12th and Oak a pass, Mike Sanders / Frank White a pass, and every Democratic Candidate a pass.

    Of course no one on the right will miss them. They blew them off as an opinion rag years ago. Just like PMS-NBC.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Goodbye KU Star. We won't miss you.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Unfortunately the Federal Government's PGBC will pick up the KC Stars pension plan so you the taxpayer will be paying their pension benefits. The PGBC does set caps on the monthly pension benefit amount that is paid out.

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  23. All those tax breaks the city gave them worked out real well for the people. Never ever see any of that money.

    ReplyDelete
  24. now that the paper's on its way to the grave is the Nelson Gallery going to have to give back the art Wm Rockhill Nelson gave them??? nah just kidding, but seriously, at one time the paper business could support a personal fortune enough to establish a lasting art gallery's establishment, and now the thing is so thin and sad - those blue boxes don't even get papers any more and like fifteen years ago or even as recent as ten years ago I fairly often bought a paper out of a blue box. -radish

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  25. 2:01 for the win, indeed. And "Millie?" That's funny right there.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Who gives a fuck. The Star sucks, always has.

    ReplyDelete
  27. The locals enjoy downplaying the one daily local newspaper to the expense of the locals. The external view is a town soon to be without a local daily newspaper. Kansas City will have the distinction as the largest city without a daily newspaper. The locals don't care but the critical eye of future employers and future employees do care. Who would want to move to a major metro area without a newspaper? The dysfunction continues. Frankly the fact the city council is more inclined to spread rumors on a blog than spread news on a newspaper doesn't bode well for the local government.

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, Delta Air Lines, Chrysler, Texaco and Pacific Gas & Electric didn't survive Chapter 11 so the Star can't possibly either, right?


      Riiiiiiiiiiiight.

      Delete
  28. @2:01, I'm pre-Boomer, but if I ever meet you, I'd be happy to call you "Boomer" to your face, PUNK!

    And don't even thing about "bitch slapping" me, Pansy or you'll suddenly find you have a second set of tonsils while you wonder where your balls went.

    Now back way the hell off, candy-ass! OK Boomer?

    ReplyDelete
  29. Finally, the Thrifty Nickel will be the Big Dog in KC!

    ReplyDelete

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