Chicago Tribune Files for Bankruptcy Protection -- the Fallout

The Chicago Tribune's parent, the Tribune Company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today. The Tribune Company has fallen into a serious debt and needs time to restructure its finances. This action, taken by one of the biggest media companies in the United States, is a major hit for an already struggling newspaper industry. Several affiliates of the Tribune have also declared bankruptcy themselves.

As the United States seem to turn more and more often toward the internet and other forms of new media for their news, the idea of a print newspaper is quickly growing old and could even be considered an outdated idea in today's modern society. Newspapers like the Chicago Tribune and other well-respected newspapers cannot seem to acquire enough funding from advertising sources that were once a significant source of income. With the economy hitting a real low, many newspapers have resorted to laying off many of their writers and editors, but it still may not be enough.

The Tribune Company certainly has a few ways they could go to attempt to get out of debt and back into the black. The Tribune owns the world-famous Major League Baseball Chicago Cubs franchise, where a sale in itself would help the company significantly. The Cubs are amongst the nation's most popular baseball teams and even in a down economy, would be able to gross the Tribune a significant cut of cash.

As a college student and a journalism major myself, the Chicago Tribune is one of the newspapers that I reference multiple times daily to receive the latest news happening around the globe. Because I don't reside in the immediate Chicago area, I reference the Chicago Tribune's website. My father resides in Chicago himself, and reads the newspaper fairly often as well. Being big baseball fans, my dad and I also watch the WGN network fairly often to catch up on the latest Chicago Cubs news.

Due to referencing the newspaper and its online source so often, I feel that I may have to find other sources to get the news stories I desire to receive. The Tribune Company puts out great, high-quality quality news stories every day, and it will definitely be different if the news stories were not as plentiful. It is my sincere hope that the Tribune Company can get out of this potential bankruptcy with a few savvy business moves, but we will see exactly what steps the company takes to getting out of their financial hole.