World responds to CL bankruptcy protection

Well, maybe “world” is a bit of an exaggeration. But the New York media have chimed in!

Jerry Portwood, editor of New York Press and CL’s former assistant A&E editor, had this to say about our parent company filing for Chapter 11:

I once worked at Creative Loafing in Atlanta but left long before I had to witness its diminishing editorial or advertising power in the region.

Ouch.

Gawker.com, of all unlikely sources of commiseration, was more empathetic:

This may be just a foreshadowing of some painful days to come for alt-weeklies in general—we also hear the Village Voice may be on the verge of some layoffs.

The New York Observer took the silver-lining angle in response to news of the bankruptcy relief sought by Creative Loafing Inc., which also owns the Chicago Reader, Washington City Paper, and Creative Loafings in Charlotte, Tampa and Sarasota:

According to City Paper Editor Erik Wemple, it’s really not that big a deal—in fact, it might be a good thing—since, according to Creative Loafing C.E.O., Ben Eason (whom Mr. Wemple paraphrases), the fiing “would allow the six papers in the Creative Loafing portfolio to establish a greater online presence while the company reorganizes its operations.”