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- “[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt] has been downgraded by Moody\u2019s, the credit-rating agency. According to a report in The Financial Times by Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, the problem was ‘HMH\u2019s debt stood at 10.5 times ebitda [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization],’ and Moody\u2019s ‘warned of liquidity pressures and \u2018a likely default’.’ Moody\u2019s said it felt HMH\u2014the country\u2019s second-largest education publisher\u2013was unlikely to reduce its debt sufficiently because the financial crisis was leading to cutbacks in US education budgets, and because there were ‘shortfalls in HMH\u2019s business plan’ “ [from MobyLives<\/a> ]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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- “But what if the old media dies much more quickly? What if a hurricane comes along and obliterates the dunes entirely? Specifically, what if the New York Times<\/em> goes out of business\u2014like, this May? It\u2019s certainly plausible. Earnings reports released by the New York Times Company in October indicate that drastic measures will have to be taken over the next five months or the paper will default on some $400million in debt. With more than $1billion in debt already on the books, only $46million in cash reserves as of October, and no clear way to tap into the capital markets (the company\u2019s debt was recently reduced to junk status), the paper\u2019s future doesn\u2019t look good. [from The Atlantic<\/em><\/a> ] <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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- And poor Detroit: “A decision by the General Motors Foundation to sharply cut back on its multimillion-dollar sponsorship of metro Detroit’s top cultural institutions puts Michigan’s nonprofit community on notice that it stands to lose millions in philanthropic dollars as the auto industry fights for its life. GM has already notified about a dozen arts and cultural groups, including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Music Hall, the Michigan Opera Theatre and the Detroit Institute of Arts, not to expect any annual support from the company in 2009.” [from the now only three-times-a-week Detroit Free Press<\/em><\/a> ]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Looks like this is going to be a fun year . . .<\/p>\n
- And poor Detroit: “A decision by the General Motors Foundation to sharply cut back on its multimillion-dollar sponsorship of metro Detroit’s top cultural institutions puts Michigan’s nonprofit community on notice that it stands to lose millions in philanthropic dollars as the auto industry fights for its life. GM has already notified about a dozen arts and cultural groups, including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Music Hall, the Michigan Opera Theatre and the Detroit Institute of Arts, not to expect any annual support from the company in 2009.” [from the now only three-times-a-week Detroit Free Press<\/em><\/a> ]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- “But what if the old media dies much more quickly? What if a hurricane comes along and obliterates the dunes entirely? Specifically, what if the New York Times<\/em> goes out of business\u2014like, this May? It\u2019s certainly plausible. Earnings reports released by the New York Times Company in October indicate that drastic measures will have to be taken over the next five months or the paper will default on some $400million in debt. With more than $1billion in debt already on the books, only $46million in cash reserves as of October, and no clear way to tap into the capital markets (the company\u2019s debt was recently reduced to junk status), the paper\u2019s future doesn\u2019t look good. [from The Atlantic<\/em><\/a> ] <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/images\/130.jpg\")
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