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Orange County Register Parent to File Bankruptcy: Report
By Don Bauder | Posted August 31, 2009, 1:48 p.m.
Orange County-based Freedom Communications, publisher of the Orange County Register plus 32 other dailies and 77 weeklies, will file for bankruptcy this week, according to the Wall Street Journal. A spokesman for the company said it is "continuing to work with lenders to resolve balance sheet issues." The company was founded in the 1930s and is still controlled by the Hoiles family.
Not a good sign for a "recovering" economy.
By SurfPuppy619 3:07 p.m., Aug 31, 2009 > Report it
I'm not so sure that the OCR is suffering as much from the economy as it is from the demise of the newspaper business in general. The YouTube generation doesn't seem to enjoy reading so much.
By refriedgringo 3:18 p.m., Aug 31, 2009 > Report it
Response to post #1: The company is burdened with excessive debt, too. Best, Don Bauder
By dbauder 6:25 p.m., Aug 31, 2009 > Report it
Response to post #2: Blame several factors: the economy, the decline of the metro newspaper industry, excessive debt, intra-family feuding, etc. Best, Don Bauder
By dbauder 6:27 p.m., Aug 31, 2009 > Report it
The founding Hoiles was an early Libertarian. When he passed on two or three decades ago, there was plenty of family infighting over the direction of Freedom Newspapers. Some wanted to keep the chain in the family and continue to preach the libertarian credo, while others wanted to maximize the value of the papers. (In hindsight, those who wanted to sell it off, take the money and run had the better idea. The fact that the chain still has a whopping 32 dailies tells me they didn't shrink the chain or sell much of anything.)
So, why is this family-dominated company with a libertarian philosophy deeply in debt? Were they out buying papers when the smart money was unloading? And going in debt to do so?
This BK filing is what David Copley was looking for down the road if he had not unloaded the U-T. He was at least smart enough to start unloading papers (those in the midwest) a few years back. It looks as if the Hoiles family decided to keep all its papers and hope for the best. Well, the best hasn't happened; the worst has.
By Visduh 7:09 p.m., Aug 31, 2009 > Report it
Response to post #5: The filing is rumored to be tomorrow (Tues. Sept. 1). I assume the company got deep in debt as it purchased newspapers. That's what happened to so many chains (Tribune, Gannett, McClatchy, MediaNews, GateHouse, etc.). Copley sold off the midwest papers in early 2007 and got a good price, certainly in retrospect. Then it shed other properties such as Casa del Zorro and the Borrego Sun. I believe it had very little, if any, debt when it paid Platinum to take the paper by selling the L.A. private equity group $100 million worth of real estate for $50 million. Copley's taking on debt to buy those papers in the mid-1990s and 2000 was not smart in hindsight, but selling the papers and ditching the debt in 2007 was smart. Best, Don Bauder
By dbauder 9:09 p.m., Aug 31, 2009 > Report it
They are in debt because part of the family wanted to keep the papers so they were forced to borrow money to buy out the family members that wanted to sell off all of the papers.
By sanman 6:24 a.m., Sep 1, 2009 > Report it
Response to post #7: Yes, the family feud contributed to the debt. Best, Don Bauder
By dbauder 6:27 a.m., Sep 1, 2009 > Report it
#7 is spot on.
By Sportsbook 11:46 a.m., Sep 1, 2009 > Report it
Response to post #9: Agreed. But acquisitions played a major role, too. Best, Don Bauder
By dbauder 6:54 p.m., Sep 1, 2009 > Report it
4-1 that Platinum buys OCR out of BK?. 2-1 they get Boston Globe? They expressed interest in Austin, but apparently couldn't get low enough price and Cox decided to hold on.
Been reported they are sniffing around Chi Sun-Times, not to mention LAT out of Tribune BK.
Also been speculation that they have talked to Lee about NCT and Belo about Riverside.
These guys crazy? Or found a classic oversold value play?
By mrsabbottsgoodstudent 8:19 p.m., Sep 2, 2009 > Report it
Response to post #11: I have heard some of those rumors but not others. Buying LAT, OCR and Riverside would seem to make logistical sense, but I wouldn't be too sure of that. (William Dean Singleton believes he gets economies by geographically clustering papers.) But I think you are right: Platinum would only do it if it could get a stark deal on the assets (such as being paid, in effect, to take the U-T.) Best, Don Bauder
By dbauder 11:39 p.m., Sep 2, 2009 > Report it
Okay -- I'll take the bait -- who's Mrs. Abbot?
By WhatGoesAround 7:40 a.m., Sep 3, 2009 > Report it
Response to post #13: By the rules, I have no idea who abbott is. Best, Don Bauder
By dbauder 8:23 a.m., Sep 3, 2009 > Report it
Mrs Abbot is "Ms Insider" it appears.
By SurfPuppy619 10:11 a.m., Sep 3, 2009 > Report it
Response to post #14: I know, Don -- it was partly a rhetorical question. I was hoping someone would drop a clue to make it more fun. In a way, I don't want to know.
By WhatGoesAround 11:39 a.m., Sep 3, 2009 > Report it
Response to post #15: You got me. Dunno. Best, Don Bauder
By dbauder 8:37 p.m., Sep 3, 2009 > Report it
Response to post #16: Since you don't want to know and I am unable to find out, the issue would seem to be closed. Best, Don Bauder
By dbauder 8:39 p.m., Sep 3, 2009 > Report it
Well, eventually when China rules the world, here's what we may have to do when we post online.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/world/asia/06chinanet.html?hpw
By WhatGoesAround 9:33 a.m., Sep 6, 2009 > Report it
Well, eventually when China rules the world....
By WhatGoesAround
==================
China already owns the USA-a communist country no less.
What happened to capitalism? China found it and now is better at it than we are.
By SurfPuppy619 11:35 a.m., Sep 6, 2009 > Report it
Reply to #19: "Well, eventually when China rules the world"
and #20: "China already owns the USA"
Sounds eerily like the doom profits of the 1980's. In 1980 Reagan campaigned on the platform that the US was about to be overwhelmed by Japan and the Soviet Union.
How did that work out?
By paul 10:57 p.m., Sep 6, 2009 > Report it
Response to post #19: Twenty years ago, we sweated because it appeared that Japan would control the world. Then the bubble popped. The same will probably happen to China. Best, Don Bauder
By dbauder 12:03 a.m., Sep 7, 2009 > Report it
Response to post #20: See above. China's bubble will pop, too. Best, Don Bauder
By dbauder 12:04 a.m., Sep 7, 2009 > Report it
Response to post #21: And in 1960, Jack Kennedy proclaimed that the Soviet Union was going to overtake the U.S. In time, it collapsed. Best, Don Bauder
By dbauder 12:06 a.m., Sep 7, 2009 > Report it
Don -- you may not see it in your lifetime or mine, but China will rule the world eventually. I'm not talking about economic bubbles. I'm talking about sheer numbers of people in that part of the world, combined with the nuclear threat, and humanity's history of the rise and fall of empires.
The United States was not always an empire, but it grew to dominate the world. It's not the Chinese people, per se, it's the inexorable push of empire by the human species. Look at the entire journey of recorded history -- empires everywhere, succeeded by other empires. There will be chaos geopolitically in the next 20-50 years, and China will step in (and on others) to suppress it. It's inevitable. Tiananmen Square was a preview.
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And how about that NATO airstrike in Afghanistan last week?
From the AP: "After touring the bomb site — where villagers' yellow fuel cans still littered the river bank — (NATO Commander General) McChrystal paid a somber visit to the Kunduz hospital, where he stooped low to talk with a 10-year-old boy whose arms and legs were swathed in gauze.
"While I was going to get the fuel, on the way I heard a big bang, and after that I don't know what happened," said the boy, Mohammad Shafi.
McChrystal whispered "tashakor," -- thank you in the Afghan language of Dari -- to the boy and left the room.
"Anytime anybody is hurt it is something that gives pause to everybody, particularly when they're young people, still children. And so you take it very seriously," McChrystal said. "So I take this entire effort as something that is a responsibility of our command, and a responsibility of mine, to try to protect Afghans."
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Each one of these people killed or maimed in that NATO airstrike has a name and a life story to tell, just like those Americans killed on 9/11 whose lives were so eloquently eulogized on the pages of The New York Times.
Empire will begin to cease to exist as a trait of the human species when the weight of the horror of what we do to one another becomes too great a burden to bear for humanity. And I believe that time will come too.
By WhatGoesAround 6:10 a.m., Sep 7, 2009 > Report it
Response to #25: "Don -- you may not see it in your lifetime or mine, but China will rule the world eventually."
Why? China is resource poor with too many mouths to feed, clothe and medicate. You don't seem to be worried about India taking over the world. Why not? What is the difference?
By paul 7:32 a.m., Sep 7, 2009 > Report it
Response to post #25: I did not mean to say that the U.S. would always be the world's greatest economic and military power. History shows that empires come and go. Best, Don Bauder
By dbauder 9:28 a.m., Sep 7, 2009 > Report it
Response to post #26: Another world power will emerge. The U.S. is showing signs of declining. But who will emerge? Best, Don Bauder
By dbauder 9:30 a.m., Sep 7, 2009 > Report it
Sounds eerily like the doom profits of the 1980's. In 1980 Reagan campaigned on the platform that the US was about to be overwhelmed by Japan and the Soviet Union.
How did that work out?
By paul
=======================
Here, let me tell you how it worked out- Raygun bankrupted our country by running HUGE twin deficits-trade and budget.
Before Raygun was sworn into office this country was the LARGEST CREDITOR nation in the entire world, after Raygun left office America was the LARGEST DEBTOR nation in the entire world. Those are the cold, hard facts.
Our country is now collapsing because of what Raygun (and every President since then) started. And if you can't see that or don't understand it then you have no clue about the damage Rayguns actions caused the country.
Next question.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203585004574392620693542630.html
By SurfPuppy619 12:59 p.m., Sep 7, 2009 > Report it
SurfPuppy619: "Next Question"
I missed your answer to the first question. Were we overwhelmed by the Japanese and Russians, or not? Do we currently bow down to our Soviet masters or not? Is our economy currently dominated by Japan or not?
My intention wasn't to endorse either Reagan or his policies, he was just a convenient touchstone for the popular wisdom of many economists and politicians of the time, both republican and democrat.
By paul 7:03 p.m., Sep 7, 2009 > Report it
Response to post #29: And Reagan had everyone believing that he was fiscally conservative. Amazing. Best, Don Bauder
By dbauder 10:40 p.m., Sep 7, 2009 > Report it
Response to post #30: Both the USSR and Japanese economies collapsed (for different reasons). Certainly, Reagan forced the latter to spend themselves into oblivion. Japan had a pyramid bubble blow up. Best, Don Bauder
By dbauder 10:43 p.m., Sep 7, 2009 > Report it
"And Reagan had everyone believing that he was fiscally conservative. Amazing."
No, actually, Reagan was an actor and a politician. His administration, fiscally, was comprised of economists that considered themselves to be clasical liberals. People believe what they want to believe.
Surfpuppy, linking WSJ opinion pieces is bush league. And, to note, nebulous to your argument.
The biggest mistake made by the Reagan administration was that, in opening up free markets, they failed to see how government would use their influence and power to corrupt them. Case in point, Freddy and Fannie. It isn't free markets that fails us, it isn't even some good old-fashioned greed. It's government. Every. Single. Time.
By refriedgringo 11:03 p.m., Sep 7, 2009 > Report it
I missed your answer to the first question. Were we overwhelmed by the Japanese and Russians, or not? Do we currently bow down to our Soviet masters or not? Is our economy currently dominated by Japan or not?
By paul
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America has gotten it's clock cleaned by the Japanese, or I should say our two face, self serving elected officials have allowed Japan to clean our clock-by targeting and taking over many of our best manufacturing industries-with the help of "free trade" yahoo's like Reagan and GWB. Never mind that Japan is not a "free trade" nation and does not allow access to their markets like we allow them to ours. Oh, and do nt forget that Japan operates in mini monopolies called "Keiretsu's" the purpose of which is the exact OPPSOITE of free markets, and would never be allowed to exist in America.
China is a country that has taken away virtually our entire manufacturing sector-again, it is not "free trade" because we don't have the access to their markets the way they do with ours. A perfect example is in the "stimulas" packages that America and China both passed-GWB refused to require a "buy American" clause in our stimulas, he said it would violate "free trade" with China and other countries and they may "retaliate".
Guess what China did with their stimulas package-they had a "buy Chinese" clause in it. Another boneheaded move from a President with NO successful business background outside of ripping off the poor with a stadium sales tax scheme to enrich his wealthy buddies-and himself.
I am tired of these loser republican and democrat presidents destroying out middle class and country.
It sounded to me like your post was aimed at proving Ronnie was some gifted leader who took us to the promised land-and I have a problem with that.
RR did many good things, and I think he was a charismatic leader-but he gave 90% of his tax cuts to the people who needed them the least-remember his "trickle down" nonsense? Didn't work out that way did it.
I have a new economic idea, lets NOT tax anyone making under $75K and have a "trickle up" tax policy.
India is not far off of China.
Anyway, the country is not headed in the right direction-and there is plenty of blame to go around.
By SurfPuppy619 11:47 p.m., Sep 7, 2009 > Report it
Response to #34: "It sounded to me like your post was aimed at proving Ronnie was some gifted leader who took us to the promised land-and I have a problem with that."
Nope, not my intention at all. I wasn't weighing in on Ronnie one way or the other.
It is worth noting that even with your extensive list of stupid actions taken by our leaders and the protectionism of Japan, it was Japan that went into a decades long slump (and the Soviet Union that collapsed).
We didn't lose our manufacturing twice, which means that Japan is losing manufacturing to China and others. As countries like Japan lose manufacturing, the balance shifts and at some point there is push-back and China slows. India, China and Russia can't all be top-tier world powers, so there will be some natural competition over their immediate geographical sphere of influence that will limit them all and provide a natural drag on the country that emerges on top. China is also surrounded by several billion Muslims and Hindus, which aren't particularly keen on the atheist communist government, plus there has been an explosion of religious growth inside China itself.
The US won't always be on top, but despite all we have done to screw it up, we are still in a very good position.
There is not room for 3 super powers in asia, so something has to give. It is difficult to see the US dominance in North America ever threatened (at least until global warming makes all of Canada verdant), so we have a very serious natural advantage to fall back on.
By paul 9:32 a.m., Sep 8, 2009 > Report it
Response to post #33: Reagan drank the supply side Kool-Aid. It was enticing politically. Promise 'em everything and cut their taxes. Sounds great. The pain is in the future. The future is now. Best, Don Bauder
By dbauder 12:09 p.m., Sep 8, 2009 > Report it