• The Associated Press, Tuesday, September 1, 2009 10:08 PM

As expected, Freedom Communications, owner of the Orange County Register in California, became the latest publisher to seek bankruptcy protection. The filing is part of a prepackaged plan approved by a majority of Freedom's lenders.

Burl Osborne, a newspaper veteran who became Freedom's CEO two months ago, says the company still has ample cash to finance its operations and pay its bills. Freedom lists debts of more than $1 billion and assets of $500 million to $1 billion. The debt includes $770 million owed to a group of banks led by JPMorgan Chase.

For the past year, Freedom, which owns dozens of newspapers, has been struggling to bring in enough money to repay its debt. The Irvine, Calif.-based company employs 8,200 people in 15 states.

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