In another sign of the deteriorating market for printed newspapers, the parent company of the Orange County Register and Riverside Press-Enterprise filed for federal bankruptcy protection.
The filing by Freedom Communications came as part of a management-led plan to acquire the struggling newspaper company. The news was reported in an article in the Register.
Rich Mirman, Freedom’s CEO and publisher, along with other investors, filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court’s Central District of California to reorganize the Santa Ana-based company’s finances and assume ownership.
Mirman said the filing will have no impact on day-to-day operations or on staffing levels.
“As publisher, I am committed to the company’s mission of delivering relevant and essential local information that serves our communities,” Mirman said. “As an investor, I am dedicated to strengthening the financial health and well-being of the business.”
He said the company is on course to generate an operating profit in 2015 after two years of losses.
The filing brings to an end Boston entrepreneur Aaron Kushner’s ownership of the newspapers. Kushner bet heavily on print, adding reporting staff and expanding into the Los Angeles market while building up significant debt. He also de-emphasized online publishing and put up one of the industry’s strictest paywalls to force readers to use the print edition.
“We’re turning the page and starting a new chapter,” Mirman told the Register. “We’ve gone through a few rocky years and we need to redefine ourselves.”
Newspapers across the country have been losing circulation and cutting staff and readers increasingly get news online.