CL CEO testifies in bankruptcy court

Ben Eason is trying to keep his creditors from gaining control of his six-newspaper chain.

Here’s the latest dispatch our colleague in Tampa, Wayne Garcia, about Creative Loafing Inc. CEO Ben Eason’s attempt to retain control of his six-newspaper company. The case continues next Tuesday in Florida bankruptcy court.

It was A Tale of Two Media Companies as Creative Loafing CEO and President Ben Eason testified Thursday afternoon during a hearing to determine whether he keeps ownership of the alt-newspaper chain.

Or perhaps I should write, ownership of the alt-digital media company. Much of Eason’s testimony concerned the collapse of the print news publishing economic model starting in 2005 and accelerating with the advent of the current recession in mid-2008. Under direct examination from CL’s bankruptcy lawyer David Jennis, Eason detailed how the company responded to 20 percent decreases in advertising revenues that he says company officials started seeing in July 2008.

“There’s been significant changes in our business…” Eason said in what qualified as the understatement of the day.

Continue reading “CL CEO testifies in bankruptcy court” ...