The Tribune Company bankrupt

One of America's largest media companies has sought protection from its creditors in bankruptcy court. The Tribune Company sought protection last week under Chapter Eleven under US bankruptcy laws. (Chapter Eleven lets a business continue to operate while it seeks to restructure its debt.)

The Tribune Company owns the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Baltimore Sun and other newspapers. It also owns twenty-three television stations.

According to this story from voa.com, The Tribune Company is the first major newspaper group in US to declare bankruptcy since the rise of Internet in the mid-90s. The article goes far in suggesting that Internet is the cause of the media groups (and all other media groups) problems.

According to this article from The Guardian, penned by Peter Preston, internet can`t be blamed for the problems, it`s down to debts brought on by poor ownership:

"The central problem isn't the internet (a dampener on profits and spreader of uncertainty, at worst; not the end of everything). The problem is newspaper ownership flawed by misplaced ambition and short-sighted management."

I think the truth lies somewhere in between the Internet and greedy ownership. One thing is certain, The Tribune Company isn`t he last newspaper-geared media group to get themselves into trouble over the next few years.