Connor sued for not paying for paper!!!

[Eye Wipe Daily]

Well, they'll be stealing the CV toilet paper next!!!!

MaineToday Media sued for not paying for paper
By Judy Harrison, BDN Staff
Posted Nov. 02, 2011, at 6:22 p.m. PORTLAND, Maine — MaineToday Media Inc. is being sued by a North Carolina paper company that alleges it was not paid for tons of paper delivered to the publisher of the Portland Press Herald and other newspapers.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Cumberland County Superior Court, also reveals that MaineToday is working with a Boston company to restructure its debt.

The suit was filed by McGrann Paper Corp. of Charlotte, N.C. The paper company is seeking payment of more than $124,000 in unpaid bills for more than 300,000 pounds of paper.

MaineToday Media owns the Portland Press Herald, Maine Sunday Telegram, Kennebec Journal and Waterville Sentinel.

MaineToday’s attorney Robert J. Dehney of Delaware, Md., said Wednesday that he could not comment on the lawsuit because he has not seen the paperwork.

The lawsuit originally was filed in U.S. District Court in Portland. The federal action was withdrawn Tuesday when a similar complaint was filed in state court for jurisdictional reasons, according to Susan Driscoll, the Portland attorney representing McGrann.

The complaint claims that between Aug. 18 and Sept 26, McGrann delivered to

[Down East]

MaineToday Media Fails to Report on Itself
Submitted by Al Diamon on Thu, 11/03/2011 - 7:26am.
Maine Media
The November 3 Portland Press Herald had a front-page story on a Westbrook company that appears to be in big financial trouble. So, there’s no question the editors at the Portland paper recognize that such financial developments are newsworthy.

Unless, of course, the company in question is the one they work for.

When that happens, they leave the reporting to the competition.

On Nov. 3, the Bangor Daily News had a story by staff writer Judy Harrison revealing that MaineToday Media – the company that owns the Press Herald, Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel – is being sued by a paper company in North Carolina for failing to pay for $124,000 worth of newsprint. Even more disturbing is Harrison’s discovery that “all financial decisions about paying MaineToday’s vendors on past-due amounts are now made by CRG Partners, a firm specializing in restructuring companies.”

In addition, MaineToday is being represented in the court case by a Maryland lawyer who specializes in bankruptcy and debt-restructuring cases.

But the big question here is not how MaineToday could be in such dire financial circumstances that it can’t pay bills for a product it absolutely has to have. The huge unresolved issue is how a responsible news organization could have failed to even mention these matters last week while it was going through the process of letting its CEO “resign” and booting the company president out the door.

Did the powers that be really think nobody would find out?

Did they believe the public would buy the idea that the staff exodus and the overdue payments were unrelated?

Did they consider what having the story break elsewhere would do to their credibility?

Did they realize how much they’ll look like hypocrites the next time they accuse a politician or business leader of not being forthcoming?

The answers to those questions may have more to do with deciding MaineToday’s future than any cash flow problem.

Al Diamon can be emailed at [e-mail].