Partner of Pioneer Press Management Company Files for Bankruptcy

In case you haven’t been paying attention over the last decade or so, it’s not exactly a great time out there for print publications these days.

Despite a much-talked about concerted effort to beef up and focus on digital strategies, Digital First - the company that has managed the Pioneer Press over the course of the last year - announced Wednesday that one of its two media chains will be filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

 Journal Register Co.’ bankruptcy (which of the two companies included in the Digital First umbrella is not the one that owns the Pioneer Press) will be the second in three years for the company and the first since the digitally-minded John Paton took over as CEO.

According to Paton, readers of The Pioneer Press shouldn’t expect any immediate visible changes despite the parent company’s financial woes. In a blog post published on Wednesday, Paton said "Journal Register Company’s filing will have no impact on the day-to-day operation of Journal Register Company, Digital First Media or MediaNews Group during the sale process. They will continue to operate their business and roll out new initiatives."

Paton’s blog also says that he has submitted a “stalking horse bid” for the company that could set the groundwork for an eventual merge between The Journal Register and MediaNews Group, the chain that The Pioneer Press currently belongs to.