The State of the Times Rumor

Just to clarify the discussion of a possible Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by The Seattle Times, here are two e-mails I received this morning on the subject, the first from Seattle Times Company spokesperson Jill Mackie:

The rumoring appears to stem from Liz [Brown]’s communication about what the Guild feels they need to be prepared for. We generally do not comment on rumors.

Next, an e-mail from Liz Brown, administrator for the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild:

The rumors are not true that the Times has filed. I simply told members that bankruptcy was one of the worst-case scenarios the Guild was preparing for.

All of this adds up to pretty much what Erica and I relayed yesterday. Brown sent an e-mail to union members saying the Guild was preparing for the possibility of a Chapter 11 filing by the Times, a Times Company vice president later sent an e-mail in response that did not deny the Chapter 11 rumors and said all options are on the table, and a Times newsroom source told me that it’s “commonly understood, or presumed” that a bankruptcy filing by the Times is “a very likely next step within the year.”

Also: A more bankruptcy-savvy reader points up a problem with my theory that a Chapter 11 filing by the Times might be a signal that Seattle is on its way to becoming a one-daily-newspaper town rather quickly. Airlines continue to fly while in Chapter 11. Newspapers—for example, the Chicago Tribune and LA Times—can continue to publish while in Chapter 11. So, assuming that a Times Chapter 11 filing were to happen, the safest prediction would simply be that Seattle becomes a town with one bankrupt print newspaper trying hard to restructure its way to solvency under the watchful eye of a bankruptcy court.