The company is still the owner of the beleaguered East Valley Tribune, the Orange County (Calif.) Register, and about thirty other newspapers and eight TV stations. The Register reports:

Freedom Communications’ reorganization calls for the company to more than double pretax earnings to $98 million within four years. [Interim Chief Executive Burl] Osborne said that improvement will be achieved by:

Continued efficiencies in management and operations. One example already implemented is joint newspaper delivery with the Los Angeles Times
Revenue growth, especially from online activity, such as an existing partnership with Yahoo
Improved coordination among divisions within the company
Joint efforts with other media companies

One example of that last point might be shared printing agreements among Southern California publications, but Osborne does not expect Southern California to wind up with one regional newspaper.

The company brought its problems on itself, by lading up with too much debt. One good side of the story is that the remaining members of the Holles family are now out of the picture.

A confirmation hearing is scheduled for March 9, at which a write down of just under a half-billion dollars will be finalized.

As Nick Martin reported on Heat City some time ago, the company’s was gifting a lot of its execs with bonuses, even as it was capsizing. Details here.