Posted by CrabbyCon on April 23, 2009 · Leave a Comment
The New York Times and the Boston Globe are both in dire straits. To add more fuel to the fire, the Boston Globe is owned by the New York Times and both papers are losing significant amounts of money and are experiencing severe debt problems.
As The New York Times Co. tries to bask in the glory of having bagged five Pulitzers, the company is facing a cash crunch that could put it on the path toward insolvency.
According to its first-quarter earnings report, the Times said it had cash and cash equivalents totaling $294 million.
However, $260 million of that is earmarked to pay off debt that matures in March 2010, effectively leaving the company with $34 million.
That’s a particularly precarious position to be in, given the Gray Lady posted a wider-than-expected, first-quarter loss of $74.5 million amid worsening advertising declines, and is scrambling to raise cash as it labors under a $1.3 billion debt load.
This should be an indication of ultra liberal slants on newspapers and how they fare in Capitalist environments. Most newspapers will probably go the way of the Internet with paid member subscriptions, but it’s quite interesting how most of the papers going out of business are more liberal than right-leaning. Read more
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Filed under Bailouts, Congress, Constitution, Economy, Media, Obama Administration · Tagged with Bailouts, Bankruptcy, Boston Globe, Brooks, Cardin, Congress, Constitution, Economy, John Kerry, Media, Media Bias, New York Times, Obama Administration
Posted by CrabbyCon on March 25, 2009 · 1 Comment
The only thing most of the newspapers (esp. those who are already “part” of the DNC) are good for is toilet paper, or at least some sort of “cover” for my puppy who is still learning how to properly go outside rather than my kitchen floor. Actually, newspaper is good for fireplace kindling as well – but I tend to use coupons and advertisements since I refuse to subsribe to certain “rags.”
However, there is a U.S. Bill that is seeking to rescue these failing newspapers. What happened to our capitalist society or following free market principles? My head is raw these days from so much scratching.
With many U.S. newspapers struggling to survive, a Democratic senator on Tuesday introduced a bill to help them by allowing newspaper companies to restructure as nonprofits with a variety of tax breaks.
“This may not be the optimal choice for some major newspapers or corporate media chains but it should be an option for many newspapers that are struggling to stay afloat,” said Senator Benjamin Cardin.
A Cardin spokesman said the bill had yet to attract any co-sponsors, but had sparked plenty of interest within the media, which has seen plunging revenues and many journalist layoffs.
Cardin’s Newspaper Revitalization Act would allow newspapers to operate as nonprofits for educational purposes under the U.S. tax code, giving them a similar status to public broadcasting companies.
Under this arrangement, newspapers would still be free to report on all issues, including political campaigns. But they would be prohibited from making political endorsements.
I am totally ashamed to admit that I reside in Maryland. I hope that someone gets up and runs against old Ben Cardin as well as Ms. Toadstool Mikulski. The Maryland senators are just as far left and liberal as the rest of the yahoos running congress. The Baltimore Sun, for example, has been on the liberal dole for ages – they were even behind the Michael Steele debacle when he was running for office and giving a speech – to have people come to the event and throw Oreo cookies at him. That’s not racist at all, right democrats?? Can’t be racist when you’re just doing it to someone with an “R” after their name/sarc.
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Filed under General · Tagged with bailout, Cardin, Communism, Conflict of Interest, Democrats, Maryland, Media, Media, Newspaper, senate, Socialism
