From LA Observed:
If the Los Angeles Times owes you money, you might have to wait a long time. Publisher Eddy Hartenstein told the staff yesterday that the Chapter 11 filing freezes pending payments to freelancers, but said the paper will ask the Delaware judge to allow the commitments to be met. This year's hundreds of laid-off former employees have not heard those assurances and are fairly frantic to find out how long their severance payments will be interrupted. Hartenstein apparently said the Chapter 11 status could last six months to a year. By the way, he told the staff "town hall" meeting that the Times and the rest of Tribune's units remain profitable — this is about Sam Zell's debt load and inability to renegotiate his loans or sell properties like the Cubs.
RELATED: One freelancer got proactive when the magazine 02138 folded up while still owing him money.
— TJ Sullivan in LA
Good lord, the bad news just keeps coming, like Niagara Falls. Egad.
ReplyDeleteThis is really going to make it hard for freelancers who, as you know, even in a strong economy sometimes have trouble getting paid. I'm not sure many of my clients are going to agree to paying me upfront, or immediately upon delivery of a story.
ReplyDelete