The bankruptcy court judge refused to grant a motion by lender Atalaya to give it ownership of the company yesterday, Creative Loafing (Tampa) reports. Judge Caryl E. Delano ruled that CL's reorganization plan should proceed, and that it was too early into the case to say the plan won't work. On a second part of Atalaya's takeover motion, the judge scheduled the final evidentiary hearing for Jan. 21, and a Jan. 26 hearing has been set to review CL's proposed reorganization plan.
Creative Loafing (Tampa) political editor Wayne Garcia says the plan, filed Monday in the company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, makes the case for keeping the company in the hands of CEO Ben Eason. "The Debtor believes retention of existing senior management and existing publishers, editors, directors of shared services and key online personnel are vital to successful implementation of this strategy as the markets are shifting very quickly at this time," the plan reads. CL also filed a 10-year financial forecast and an analysis of how much the company would bring if it were liquidated. Read more from Atlanta Magazine's Steve Fennessy.
Creative Loafing (Tampa) editor David Warner (who used to work at Philadelphia City Paper) and City Paper editor Brian Howard (who didn't work in Tampa, but whose grandfather lives there) make a friendly wager on the Rays and Phillies and, most importantly, find a way to create a poll that drives traffic on their blogs.
The company, which owns Creative Loafing papers in Atlanta, Charlotte, Sarasota and Tampa, as well as the Chicago Reader and Washington City Paper, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this morning, the St. Petersburg Times reports. City Paper editor Erik Wemple reports that CEO Ben Eason discussed the filing with top company officials in a conference call this morning, and said that the bankruptcy filing would allow CL's six papers to establish a greater online presence while the company reorganizes its operations. A corporate memo on the filing says it "has little to do with the acquisition" of the Reader and City Paper last year. Eason also said that the move entails no liquidation or layoffs. In fact, the Chapter 11 filing will roll back editorial staff cuts at the papers, Wemple writes. MORE: Read more about the move from Creative Loafing (Tampa), the Reader, Crain's and Bloomberg News.
CL's Atlanta editor Ken Edelstein reports that he laid off two editorial staffers on Monday: Senior editor Scott Freeman and senior writer David Lee Simmons. In addition, the St. Petersburg Times reports that CL's Tampa paper has let go of Lance Goldenberg, who'd been a freelance film critic for the paper for 19 years. In his statement, Tampa editor David Warner said that the hole in film coverage will be filled with staff writers from CL's newly acquired papers in Chicago and Washington.
The paper formerly known as The Weekly Planet signed a distribution deal this week with the St. Petersburg Times, according to the Tampa Bay Business Journal. The Business Journal also reports that publisher Sharry Smith "assured the staff that protection clauses were added to the agreement to keep Creative Loafing stories confidential until the actual release date." Although the Business Journal says the agreement "cost 19 people jobs," Smith tells AAN only one staff person was laid off.
CL's publications in Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Charlotte and Sarasota have joined the company's Chicago Reader and Washington City Paper as members of Ruxton, according to a press release issued this afternoon by Village Voice Media's national advertising firm. Under the arrangement, Ruxton will serve as Creative Loafing's exclusive representative for national print advertising and also will provide non-exclusive representation for online advertising.
Three AAN papers won a total of 12 Sunshine State Awards, given out by the South Florida Pro Chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists. Miami New Times nabbed four awards, including first-place finishes in Serious Feature Reporting, Arts Reporting, and the Gene Miller Award for Investigative Reporting. Creative Loafing (Tampa)'s six total awards including a first-place finish in Election Reporting. New Times Broward-Palm Beach won two awards, including first-place kudos for Non-Deadline Business Reporting.
Sharry Smith replaced Amber Abram as publisher on April 1. Smith previously worked for the Florida alt-weekly from 1989-1999, then returned to be advertising director in October 2005. "I found myself longing to return to publishing," she says. "The reason I chose to work here back in 1989 was because I believed that Creative Loafing was in an ideal position to impact our community in a positive way, and I wanted to be a part of that," Smith says. "That's the same reason I chose to return in 2005."
Tampa's Creative Loafing is among 24 Florida companies selected by the Florida Venture Forum to present at its 2007 Venture Capital Conference, according to a press release issued by the Forum. The conference, which will be held in February, allows state businesses ripe for equity financing to interact with venture capitalists, investment bankers, and other financial intermediaries. More than 1,200 people attended the 2006 Conference, representing 185 venture capital firms from across the US.
