KYW Newsradio Team Coverage
Philadelphia's two major newspapers have announced that their parent company has filed for bankruptcy. But the papers and their web site are continuing operations.
KYW's Kim Glovas reports that the executive board of the union representing the company's 700 workers met for two hours on Monday morning to discuss the bankrupcty filing by Philadelphia Newspapers LLC.
The Newspaper Guild said it might be meeting later in the afternoon with company officials.
Guild president Dan Gross (right) says the executive board meeting was designed to bring members up to speed on the bankruptcy filing. He says the Guild has to do a number of things at this early stage:
"We're going to be getting copies of everything relating to the bankruptcy, we're going to try and work with the employer to make sure the contracts that we have now are preserved, and we're going to do whatever we have to do to guarantee that our members are taken care of."
Gross says the Guild contracts with the Inquirer and Daily News expire on August 31st. He believes that it is in the best interests of the union and the papers to sit down as soon as possible to bargain a new contract that would go beyond August.
The company has four months to put together a restructuring plan.
KYW's Steve Tawa reports that in the summer of 2006, CEO Brian Tierney led a group of Philadelphia-area investors to buy the operation for $562 million.
On Monday, Tierney said the company has been hit by "a rare trifecta" -- a dramatic decline in advertising revenue, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and a debt structure out of line with current realities:
"The words 'Chapter 11' sound pretty ominous. But in fact, the process exists to help protect companies, and help them thrive and survive."
Tierney stresses that the restructuring is focused on the company's debt, not its operations:
"And tomorrow, just like today, more than two million people will read our journalism, either in print or online."
Tierney's remarks came in the form of a prepared audio statement. His office says he will not be making a public comment, or conduct interviews, until after Tuesday's bankruptcy court hearing.
KYW's Mike DeNardo reports that the Newspaper Guild on Sunday night posted a letter online informing union members that Philadelphia Newspapers LLC has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Guild president Dan Gross said in the letter that members should remain calm and report for work.
Philadelphia Newspapers wasn't alone. The Journal Register company also went Chapter 11 over the weekend (see related story).
The company specializes in suburban newspapers in this region, including the Norristown Times Herald, Delaware County Daily Times, Trentonian, Pottstown Mercury, the West Chester Daily Local News, and the Lansdale Reporter.
A statement on the Journal Register web site says it also does not expect any interruption in business during the restructuring.
(Top photo by KYW's Mike DeNardo)
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