AP – Judge approves MediaNews parent’s bankruptcy plan
By MICHAEL LIEDTKE (AP)
SAN FRANCISCO — A bankruptcy judge approved Affiliated Media Inc.’s reorganization plan Thursday and freed the publisher of the San Jose Mercury News and 53 other daily newspapers from most of its debt as it tries to boost its sagging revenue.
The confirmation of the reorganization plan in Delaware puts Affiliated Media, the holding company for MediaNews Group Inc., on track to emerge from bankruptcy protection by April 1 and possibly as early as March 18, company spokesman Seth Faison said.
The company filed for Chapter 11 protection on Jan. 22.
Besides a portfolio of newspapers that includes The Denver Post, The Detroit News and Los Angeles Daily News, Affiliated also owns four radio stations in Texas and a television station in Alaska.
The quick approval produced a big payday for Affiliated’s president, Joseph Lodovic IV. He qualified for a $250,000 bonus by getting the plan confirmed before April. That comes on top of a $250,000 award he already got for putting together a plan that was approved by Affiliated’s lenders before the bankruptcy filing.
