Stop the Presses!

From The NewsHour MediaWatch
The Tribune Company filed for federal bankruptcy protection today. The publisher of the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, and other newspapers and media outlets is more than $13 billion in debt.

Today’s filing is the latest cataclysm for an industry that finds itself with spiraling troubles. Last week, the Rocky Mountain News, Colorado’s oldest paper, was put up for sale after owner E. W. Scripps company said it had lost about $11 million on the operation in the first nine months of this year. Also last week, Gannett, the largest US newspaper publisher, began laying off 10% of its work force, a total expected to approach 2,000 employees.

Tonight on the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Jeffrey Brown discusses the impact of the Tribune filing and the state of the newspaper industry with three experts: James O’Shea, former editor of the Los Angeles Times, Poynter Institute president Karen Dunlap, and BusinessWeek columnist Jon Fine.