U.S. Senate See Full Big Line

(D) J. Hickenlooper*

(R) Somebody

80%

20%

Governor See Full Big Line

(D) Joe Neguse

(D) Phil Weiser

(D) Jena Griswold

60%

60%

40%↓

Att. General See Full Big Line

(D) M. Dougherty

(D) Alexis King

(D) Brian Mason

40%

40%

30%

Sec. of State See Full Big Line

(D) George Stern

(D) A. Gonzalez

(R) Sheri Davis

40%

40%

30%

State Treasurer See Full Big Line

(D) Brianna Titone

(R) Kevin Grantham

(D) Jerry DiTullio

60%

30%

20%

CO-01 (Denver) See Full Big Line

(D) Diana DeGette*

(R) Somebody

90%

2%

CO-02 (Boulder-ish) See Full Big Line

(D) Joe Neguse*

(R) Somebody

90%

2%

CO-03 (West & Southern CO) See Full Big Line

(R) Jeff Hurd*

(D) Somebody

80%

40%

CO-04 (Northeast-ish Colorado) See Full Big Line

(R) Lauren Boebert*

(D) Somebody

90%

10%

CO-05 (Colorado Springs) See Full Big Line

(R) Jeff Crank*

(D) Somebody

80%

20%

CO-06 (Aurora) See Full Big Line

(D) Jason Crow*

(R) Somebody

90%

10%

CO-07 (Jefferson County) See Full Big Line

(D) B. Pettersen*

(R) Somebody

90%

10%

CO-08 (Northern Colo.) See Full Big Line

(R) Gabe Evans*

(D) Yadira Caraveo

(D) Joe Salazar

50%

40%

40%

State Senate Majority See Full Big Line

DEMOCRATS

REPUBLICANS

80%

20%

State House Majority See Full Big Line

DEMOCRATS

REPUBLICANS

95%

5%

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
January 29, 2009 04:44 AM UTC

Fratricide, Denver Post Style?

  • 39 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

The Denver Post announced today that they will not honor the Joint Operating Agreement governing their partnership with the Rocky Mountain News in the event of the latter’s sale. As the Rocky reports:

The owners of The Denver Post said Wednesday that if the Rocky is sold, they intend to take control of the Denver Newspaper Agency and publish only the Post.

The unsigned statement from the Denver Post Corp. was a response to an article in Wednesday’s Rocky that said executives at E.W. Scripps, the parent of the Rocky, had accused the Post of violating their joint operating agreement by using agency loans to pay for the Post’s payroll.

The Post owed the agency $13 million by the end of November, Scripps executives claimed in a letter obtained by the Rocky.

The Post’s statement Wednesday called the article “irresponsible,” said there is no violation of the JOA, and said any amounts it owes to the agency will be canceled once it takes over…

The Post statement suggests that anyone who might buy the Rocky will be left without printing presses or an advertising or circulation staff, all of which are currently provided to the Post and Rocky by the agency.

Get it? A newspaper with no printing press. Or delivery boys. Or advertising. If they can really carry this off, and there are significant questions as to whether or not they legally can…well, obviously. There’s very little left to buy at the Rocky Mountain News. Heck, even if they can’t actually get away with this under the terms of the JOA, just talking about doing it depresses the Rocky’s value. For Post publisher Dean Singleton, though, there’s nothing but upside.

Now, the Post made their announcement today after the Rocky published a story alleging that the JOA was being violated by this ‘backdoor’ funding for the Post by the Denver Newspaper Agency, which handles production for both papers. And that’s where the story gets really dirty, as the Rocky continues:

The Post did not deny it owed the agency money for payroll…and confirmed that the agency has been paying the Post newsroom costs. The agency had been subtracting the costs from the Post’s monthly cash distributions from the agency.

Scripps said this week the agency has not made any distributions to the partners since June, and the Rocky has incurred $10.6 million in payroll costs since that time. [Pols emphasis] In the letter, the Scripps executives say Post management unilaterally had the agency borrow from its banks to cover the Post costs, and now the agency’s lenders won’t extend any more credit.

So, the Post is able to arrange financing for their day-to-day operations though a sweetheart deal with the production company it intends to take over after the Rocky dies, apparently long after they should have if the DNA maxed out their credit lines giving it to them, while the Rocky receives nothing from that same supposedly independent entity and is left to die–without even a printing press?

Somebody want to explain how this does not have a 100% preordained outcome?

And the other lingering question is this: Just how solid is the Denver Post if they are “borrowing” huge sums of money in order to make their own payroll?  

Tweet
Share

Comments

39 thoughts on “Fratricide, Denver Post Style?”

      1. You too can roll with Dean and his crew on N51MN.

        According to FAA sources the Post boys are currently in the NY/NJ area; if I had to guess they’re shopping for some new Wall Street financing.

  2. Scripps says: “we changed our mind and will set an October sale of the Rocky deadline”.

    Dinky Singleton will be screwed as he will definitely declare bankruptcy before then.

    This is a “the first guy who blinks loses” situation.

    1. The leaders of Scripps are like those of just about every other publicly held corporation in America. Their concern is keeping their jobs until the storm is over and they can go back to fatter bonuses and salaries.

      Neither they, nor their shareholders, I’d wager, give a hoot about whether Denver is a one- or two-newspaper town. “Winning” for them is getting out of Denver before they lose any more money than they have to.

      Now, a privately funded entity with a lot of cash to burn might have another perspective on this…

      Theoretically, had I won the $300+ million Powerball a while back I’d be in the process of making a pre-emptively high offer for the Rocky and its share of the JOA, before sitting back and telling old Dean, “Well son, looks like you’ve gotten yourself in a bit of a pickle. I can lose money at this rate for about five more years before I decide to bail. My unions don’t hate me because I haven’t demonized them; they’re willing to negotiate a big cut in labor costs for that period because my goal is to add jobs and expand the business once I drive the weaker player out. What’s your plan for the next five years?”

  3. “delivery boys” …..that is oh so old school.  The average newspaper delivery person these days is more likely to be a mom who gets up in the middle of the night to deliver papers at 4 am so she can be with her kids later.  It’s not the same world it once was……

    3. I never had a route, but my friend Tom Drury did and I often tagged along and helped.  It was the afternoon Long Island paper, whatever it was.  

      Besides the responsibility of delivery, paper boys had to find new subscribers, take care of complaints, and balance the books.

      Now, with adult delivery, they can spend more time playing Nintendo…….

      1. other than mowing the lawn at the 7/11 for a Slurpy and $2…

        I hated delivering papers, twice a day, in Louisville, KY.  

        But ‘delivery boys’ is definitely old school.  My route is rural anyways, and the current carrier misses me about 1 or 2 times a week.  Plus its the Sentinel anyways, which makes mornings like akin to fingers on a chalkboard.

        For a sample, check out Rick Wagner’s column today…

        This guy claims to be a lawyer. Pity his clients.

        1. It just encourages him.

          On a lighter note, my first job was not delivering papers, but delivering Life Magazine when it was a weekly.  I think I still have my Life carrier bag out in the garage somewhere.

            1. that Wagner and his lunatic fringe of are doing more to destroy the Republican brand than any opposition ever have.  I know all the recurring Republican losses might be shrinking your head, little Ricky.  But if you pinch your tinfoil hat at the crown, you should be able to keep the fit and continue helping destroy the R party in Colorado.

            2. Especially since the Sentinel allows him to split his time between reporting and opinion.

              That tells you how “fair and balanced” his reporting tends to be.

              As far as his opinion goes, it’s cartoonish.

              He wants to be Michelle Malkin when he grows up.

        2. I got 50 cents. That was after a raise.  It was also a long, long time ago!

          And nothing for mowing the family lawn, big and St. Augustine grass.  Of course, after my brother and I left for college, Dad got a riding mower.  Funny how Sis wasn’t in line to mow the lawn.  

  4. Dean’s a nasty, ruthless, and cunning operator-but in his current state of health, he has to rely upon his lieutenants to conceive & execute policy-and they’ve obviously screwed up (althouigh the letter was dated in early December, so it was probably just a ploy). It may well be within Scripps’ power to take out the Post and have the Denver market to itself-but that might be defeat disguised as victory.  Scripps would like to exit the JOA w/o liability, and get some cash-while Dean wants them to pay him off for the privilege.  The decision rests w. the banks-who might just get together, choose the winner, and let the other die

    4. which is part of Lexis/Nexis and now makes most of its money as a leading provider of online access to statutes and caselaw, and as a manager of court e-filing systems.

      For those who don’t watch the whole thing, the story dates from 1981.

  7. David Milstead of the Rocky last week (1/21/09) wrote this in an analysis article about the current business state of both the Rocky and the Post…..

    Understand that no one will have to pay anything for the paper. In the current setup, with the Rocky and The Post splitting agency profits before paying for their newsrooms, both papers are now losing millions of dollars a year. As part of their joint operating agreement, both papers are worse than worthless, since there’s negative value to an unending stream of future losses.

    He ends his article with this…..

    Perhaps The Post can hang on to a significant number of Rocky subscribers if the paper closes, revenue will improve, and MediaNews will have more than a pyrrhic victory.

    I don’t think so. I will make two predictions, which may be my last in this column. One is that 18 months after the Rocky closes, The Post will have retained very few of the Rocky’s subscribers, loyal to the tabloid format.

    And two: Once we stop speculating when Denver will become a one-newspaper town, we will begin to ask when the Post will close as well.

    Admittedly Milstead does work for the Rocky, but probably not for long.

          1. I’m willing to bet a paper with a swear in the name would sell.

            Rocky Horse Ass Giant Candy

            That’s a good read.

            Anyway, I was picking on you because you seem… somewhere between salty and cantankerous today.

Leave a Comment

Recent Comments


Posts about

Donald Trump
SEE MORE

Posts about

Rep. Lauren Boebert
SEE MORE

Posts about

Rep. Yadira Caraveo
SEE MORE

Posts about

Colorado House
SEE MORE

Posts about

Colorado Senate
SEE MORE

99 readers online now

Newsletter

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to stay in the loop with regular updates!