The Journal Register Company, publisher of 22 daily and 302 non-daily newspapers in the United States has filled for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

According to the filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, Journal Register proposes a restructuring plan in which it would cancel its stock and become a company controlled by its lenders.

The company cited slumping advertising revenue and circulation for the filing.

The company reported $596 million in assets and $692 million in debt, according to AP.

Journal Register shut 33 regional weeklies earlier this month and warned then that more may be closed. The company serves Philadelphia, Michigan, Connecticut, the greater Cleveland area and parts of New York state.

Speculation that the Journal Register Company may file for bankruptcy first started to surface last year as the group disclosed growing losses.

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The Journal Register Company has shut 33 regional weeklies, and may shut more if buyers aren’t found for titles on the market.

The Journal Register came under serious pressure last year, with debt driving the company stock to record lows, resulting in a delisting from the NYSE.

The full list of papers closed or about to close via MediaPost

Millbrook Round Table, the Voice Ledger of Pleasant Valley, the Gazette-Advertiser of Rhinebeck, the Pawling News Chronicle, the Harlem Valley Times, the Hyde Park Townsman, the Register Herald of Pine Bluffs and the Putnam County Courier.

The company is also closing several other upstate weeklies, including Weekend, Dutchess Magazine and the Hudson Valley Guide. Early this month, it closed The Independent, a biweekly based in Hillsdale, NY.

In Connecticut, Journal Register has closed the Bloomfield Journal and is said to be preparing to close the Shoreline Times, Pictorial Gazette, Branford Review, Clinton Recorder and The Advertiser, of East Haven. Two daily newspapers, The Herald of New Britain and the Bristol Press, were saved from closure at the last minute when they were sold to Mike Schroeder, a former Newsday executive who also bought three weeklies: the Wethersfield Post, the Newington Town Crier, and the Rocky Hill Post. The East Hartford Gazette was closed, but its longtime editor Bill Doak has reincarnated it as “The Gazette,” serving as publisher, chief writer, and deliveryman.

In Michigan, Journal Register closed a number of weekly titles under its Up-North Publications division, including the Town Meeting of Elk Rapids, the Petoskey Citizen-Journal and the Northern Star. It is also said to be planning to close the Grand Traverse Insider, the Leader and Kalkaskian , the Antrim County News and the Petoskey-Charlevoix Star.

In Philadelphia, Journal Register closed a number of Philadelphia-area weeklies, including the Northeast Philadelphia Breeze, the News Gleaner, the Olney Times, the Germantown Courier, and the Mount Airy Times Express. It also closed the Hershey Chronicle.

PaidContent reports that  The Bristol Press and The Herald, two dailies set to close last November have been saved by a new buyer, good news for the employees, but small fry in the bigger picture of the downturn for both the company, and broader market.

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How bad was 2008 for the newspaper industry in the United States? E&P calculated the stock price movements, and massacre doesn’t fully describe it:

GateHouse, down 99.55%
McClatchy, down 93.6%
Lee Enterprises, down 97.3%
Journal Register Co., down 99.58%
Media General, down 92.47%

Gannett Co which owns non-newspaper assets as well as newspapers dropped 80% and the New York Times Company was the best performer losing only 59% of its value. Notably the Dow only dropped 36% for the year.

Of those, Gatehouse Media now has a market cap of only $2.3 million, despite publishing hundreds of papers.

The only question now is: how many will be left on the list by the end of 2009.

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The letter from seven Democrat State Representatives to the State Department of Economic and Community Development asks for unspecified “help” for both papers, arguing for the continued existence of both as they are a “central point of information and record about a city” and that both are important for public accountability. They even go as far as mentioning free press as an essential part of the Bill of Rights.

Where do you start with this news. That it’s happened isn’t greatly surprising in an age where Government regularly intervenes to prop up or save failed businesses. The entire newspaper industry is in trouble in the United States, so this call for State help is probably the first of many to come.

Newspapers aren’t required to disseminate local information, the internet does a perfectly good job, so their argument is at best bizarre. These are also fairly small towns with populations less than 100,000 people, so the idea that each would need a daily newspaper is stranger again, and both towns are serviced by State and National newspapers.

I’ll leave the last word to Mark Finkelstein, who paints a picture of newspapers in the future:

Governor: John? It’s the Governor here. Say, you guys there at the Bristol Press are doing a great job. Top notch. But there is that one reporter of yours making a big stink over our proposal to increase the state income tax. He really doesn’t get what we’re trying to do to help our state move forward. And you know, that bill to renew your paper’s subsidy is coming up next week. I’d hate to see it get bogged down in the fuss over this. Know what I mean?

Editor: Um, yes, I know, sir.

Copy of the letter as follows:

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The two papers facing closure are the Bristol Press and The Herald of New Britain, reports the Hartford Courant. Around 50-60 employees will be affected.

E&P reports that Journal Register owns 22 dailies and hundreds of non-dailies in the U.S, and has been beset by high debt levels and falling advertising revenue. The company was recently kicked off the NYSE.

The International Herald Tribune suggests that the issues may be deeper with all 13 of the Journal Register’s Connecticut papers possibly facing closure as the companies financial situation deteriorates.

Websites for The Bristol Press and The Herald of New Britain are offline at the time of writing.

Related posts:

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3. And so it begins: Law Makers ask State to subsidize local papers