Yet another struggling newspaper company, The Journal Register Co, has filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, as a part of its restructuring attempt pre-approved on key issues by JPMorgan Chase Bank and 26 of its 37 secured lenders. The court papers say that the company will soon solicit its reorganization-plan approval of the other creditors as well.

As per the bankruptcy statement filed in the US Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York, Journal Register, reported debts totaling nearly $700 million, as against its assets falling between $100 million and $500 million.

One of the biggest debts Journal Register owes is a $749,311 unsecured debt to the estate of its ex-CEO Robert M. Jelenic; and the company's largest unsecured creditor is Terri Tucker, who is owed $4.5 million. 

The Journal Register is a publisher of 20 dailies - including The New Haven Register and The Trentonian - and 159 non-daily publications, in New York, Ohio, greater Philadelphia, Connecticut, and Michigan. The company, which has 196 websites, is also the owner of the online classifieds network - JobsInTheUS.

In a statement accompanying the bankruptcy filings, Journal Register's Chairman and CEO James Hall said that the company "has taken numerous steps to reduce its debt and strengthen its balance sheet,' and that "a Chapter 11 filing was a necessary and best course of action."