Orange Country Register publisher Freedom Communications files for Chapter 11

Freedom Communications files for Chapter 11

WILMINGTON, Del. — The owner of the Orange County Register in California and dozens of other newspapers became the latest publisher Tuesday to seek bankruptcy protection, hurt by a jarring drop in advertising revenue.

Freedom Communications Inc. filed for Chapter 11 protection, citing debts of more than $1 billion and assets of $500 million to $1 billion

Freedom had been struggling to bring in enough money to repay its debt for the past year. It required workers to take unpaid leave and imposed an across-the-board 5 percent cut in wages.

The privately held company, based in Irvine, Calif., is at least the 10th newspaper publisher to file for bankruptcy protection over the past year.

Besides the Orange County Register, Freedom’s other newspapers include The Gazette in Colorado Springs, Colo., and the Odessa American in Texas.