AAN Association of Alternative Newsmedia

Guardian Says it May Force Bankruptcy on VVM; VVM Calls Idea 'Ludicrous'

By Bloomberg News and The Business Insider

january 19, 2010 12:01 pm

As the San Francisco Bay Guardian continues to try and collect millions of dollars awarded to it in a 2008 predatory-pricing verdict against SF Weekly and its parent company, the Guardian's attorney tells Bloomberg News it is considering a court petition to put Village Voice Media into involuntary bankruptcy to collect the debt. VVM's lawyer tells Bloomberg, however, that "it is simply ludicrous" to suggest that any of the company's other newspapers might face bankruptcy as a result of the California judgment. Meanwhile, VVM executive editor Michael Lacey took issue with the framing and premise of the original Bloomberg story, calling its insinuation of a looming bankruptcy proceeding a "false, inaccurate smear." (The Bloomberg story linked above was updated after Lacey and VVM's attorney contacted the reporter to make some corrections.) READ MORE from the San Francisco Chronicle and The Stranger.