Rab interviews several journalists who took the “voluntary” buyouts.

You can read it through this link.

 Those in the business – and now out of it – will recognize most of the names, and recall most of the facts in the fairly detailed article.

Anyone who took the buyout and opted not to take the money until 2009 got screwed. As soon as Tribune declared bankruptcy, all of those people were deemed “creditors” and just went on the list of people Tribune can’t pay. It wasn’t a lot of people, but it was some.

The Good News

If you took your Tribune buyout as a lump sum, you get to keep your money.

The Bad News

Folks who decided to take their buyout in payments get to keep what has already been paid but probably won’t get any more checks. As of Tribune’s bankruptcy, folks with deferred payments simply aren’t getting them.

The Worse News

A number of Tribune employees accepted a buyout in 2008 but elected to take the money in 2009 in order to better mitigate the Federal tax bill. Those people are at the bottom of a long list of creditors looking into Tribune’s empty piggy bank. If you see anything, it’ll likely be after folks with secured debt or debt ahead of you has been paid.

One former Tribune employee told me she was expecting a check in excess of $50,000 in 2009 as her buyout, accepted months ago. Instead, she got a notice from the Delaware District of the United States Bankruptcy Court.

As an occasional Tribune consultant, I, too, got a bankruptcy notice from Tribune. Fortunately, they don’t have an outstanding balance. Starting with the notice of their bankruptcy, instead of billing monthly with net 30 day terms, Tribune is going to become a weekly invoice, due on receipt. (If only its employees had that option and the same level of control.)

A Bird in the Hand…

As noted earlier, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Even if you love newspapers, think they will turn around and are bullish on their long-term future, you may want to invest otherwise just in case.

Even a pessimist such as myself would never have imagined that Tribune would leave their bought-out employees high and dry. Prepare for the worst.