Village News Inc. files for reorganization

Julie Reeder

On Friday, March 17, Village News, Inc. filed for Reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. As publisher, I wanted to make this announcement publicly, in order to avoid rumors and to assure our readers and advertisers that the Village News will be operating as normal.

We are not going anywhere, we plan to complete our reorganization and be stronger in the future as we continue with our many print publications and move forward to incorporate many digital agency products.

After a long discussion, the Board of Directors of Village News, Inc. determined in order to meet all of the company’s financial obligations, most of what was left over from the recession which hit the entire country, this was the best action to take.

With the filing for reorganization, we look forward to continuing Village News, Inc.’s established plan for growth as to all of the print products and the digital agency products. We are excited about the future and this was the best decision to handle the past.

As stated by our attorney, Robert B. Rosenstein of Rosenstein & Associates, “The Village News filed for Reorganization in order to assure the paper's continued business operations. A Chapter 11 Reorganization should allow Village News to develop a plan to pay all of its creditors, which plan will need to be approved by the court. Over the years, we have all seen large and small companies reorganize, emerging stronger, which is what we predict for the Village News.”

The struggles faced by Village News Inc., are not new to the print media world. Newspapers across the nation have suffered due to the “Great Recession and a variety of other factors.” In 2015, Freedom Communications Inc., owner of The Orange County Register and The Press-Enterprise, filed for bankruptcy protection. The Tribune Media Company filed for bankruptcy protection in 2008. At the time, Tribune Media owned 10 daily newspapers including the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Orlando Sentinel, Sun-Sentinel and The Baltimore Sun.

Many businesses have successfully used Chapter 11 to reorganize and have come out stronger, some of the most well-known include American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Chrysler, GM, Texaco, Lehman Bros, Washington Mutual, Mrs. Fields, Chuck E. Cheese, Claim Jumper, Round Table, Eddie Bauer, Sharper Image, Gottchalks, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers, Marvel Comics, and Trump Entertainment Resorts.

I want to assure our readers and advertisers that there is nothing to worry about. The Village News will be just fine. It’s just business. We utilized a legal tool available to us to make the paper and company stronger. The best assurance that I can provide, you are reading this note from me, in the paper that is still being published.