The Red Star Is Going Down!!!! PDF Print E-mail
Written by Tracy Eberly   
Monday, 06 October 2008 13:49
The Star Tribune of Minneapolis said on Wednesday that it had stopped making payments on its debts, the latest evidence of the trouble the newspaper industry is having with debt loads it took on in 2006 and 2007, The New York Times’s Richard Pérez-Peña writes.

The Star Tribune skipped a $9 million quarterly payment to its senior creditors that was due on Tuesday, said Chris Harte, the publisher and chairman. The paper has been in default since June, when it began missing payments on its smaller junior debt.
They are in BIG trouble on Portland Avenue. I hope they close up shop before the election.
With advice from the Blackstone Group, The Star Tribune has been trying to negotiate new terms with its lenders, a consortium of banks, insurance companies, hedge funds and others.
Given the current credit crunch, good luck with that! At least something positive will come out of this mess.

The paper has cut its staff and reduced other operating costs, while trying to obtain wage and work rule concessions from its unions.

Union concessions? Forget that! Strike a blow to the fat cats and don't give an inch. Unions love to kill off companies and the Red Star should be no exception. I hope that the unions fight like hell, right up until the whole paper folds and then they will all be unemployed.

Cross-posted at Anti-Strib. Comments welcome.