The bloodied newspaper business keeps getting redder all over. On Feb. 21, Journal Register, owner of 20 daily newspapers including the New Haven Register, declared bankruptcy. The company was staggering under $692 million in debt, much of it taken on through the 2004 acquisition of four papers in economically depressed Michigan. Two days after Journal Register's filing, Philadelphia Media Holdings, which bought the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News from McClatchy in 2006, also filed for Chapter 11. And on Feb. 24, Hearst said it may shut down the San Francisco Chronicle if costs can't be cut or a buyer found. |