More startling over the past year has been the collapse of the New York Times (NYT). The New York Times Company has a $400 million debt payment due in five months, and management has not yet explained how it plans to meet this. The company is nearly out of cash, its operations are now burning cash, and its attempts to sell assets have, so far, been unsuccessful.The New York Times has an untapped $400 million credit line that could be used to meet its obligations over the next year, but we would be surprised if its banks were not looking for some way to renege on this. The company's most easily saleable asset is probably About.com, which might fetch up to $500 million (a year ago, it would have fetched a lot more--just like everything else NYTCo owns). The sale of this asset would buy the company some breathing room.

(We will confess that we have occasionally wondered when the New York Times will begin covering its own situation. The potential bankruptcy or default of one of the world's most famous newspapers is a big story, especially here in New York. If the paper doesn't start covering this story soon, someone might accuse it of not being objective!)

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/siliconalley/media/2008_12_tribune_almost_toast_new_york_times_next.html