It seems as though no one has an opinion on the Sun-Times Media Group
anymore.  I'm really wondering what people think about this company's
future.  How much lower can it sink?  Is there a chance of any
redemption in their future?

I mean honestly, I know there's someone out there who wants to either
praise or bash SVN - I'm just wondering if they'll actually step up
and explain why they think the way they do.

RE: SVN

I'm very fond of this stock over the next 24 months. This media group
is the dominant player in its market. The stock is certainly a value
play. New management, changes in the structure, adaptation to the new
media world in an old media city should all be good for the bottom
line. This stock has been down for sometime, as with most small
regional stocks, despite all your best research and good fundamentals,
it can stagnate until it 'catches' with the larger market in some way.
The very worst I could see happening for this group is a drop to
1.80ish a share and a $3-$ per share buyout from a larger media player.

I bought this stock at $4.5 -- I'm holding out for a return, but I am
concerned the $19 price of '06 was just bubblenomics.  I think it will
eventually come back.

i am actually long on sun times media group - i buy a number of shares
weekly through a sharebuilder account.  when it goes up i plan to sell
it in weekly increments.  it is my speculation play.  i do hope that
is does not get delisted.  it seems that Hollinger corp has just
announced that it may go insolvent, and they own 70% of class a shares
for sun times media group.  sun times has cut off the dividend - so
hollinger has lost a significant source of income from this security.
when hollinger goes bankrupt, this security will get snapped up.  so
this stock may have major institutional involvement pretty soon.  i am
not sure what the financial ramifications are here - this is a risky
stock, but the upside seems to be worth the risk.  if of course you
can handle the risk.  most of the time when you swing for the fences
you strike out.  i am in though.

wow this stock is currenly trading at 25 percent of it average
volume.  it is like a penny stock!

this is why i just picked up another 1500 shares.  meh, it's only
money and i like to gamble.

This is awesome  - Conrad Black loots a company - then he gets the
same company he stole from to pay for his legal defense.  This is why
I will never be a millionaire.  It is also why the stock skidded below
a dollar yesterday.  It is just digusting.  The company chose to
release this info over the Thanksgiving holiday - a time when most
Americans are watching football, or shopping.  Good damage control, I
love this management team.

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_...

The Conrad Blank sentencing was postponed a while back, if he was
sentenced it would have been more than a symbolic victory.  The
organization actually would save millions in protracted legal fees on
a solid conviction.  Black was much more than a poor steward of
shareholder assets.  He is just a thief.  I read somewhere that Black
actually stoed millions of dollars of cash in cardboard file boxes and
had his chauffer load them into the trunk of his limo.  He may be
playing the legal system, but the market has its own justice  - the
stock is in the toilet.

I had some misgivings about the trial proceedings last night, and this
morning came into work to see :

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=85404

It seems that said parties have reached some kind of civil settlement
between Conrad Black ans Sun Times Media - details to be released on
January 8th.  Waiting to see what the insiders do -  results will be
prepriced into the stock.  After January 8th there might be more
people on this discussion group.

taken from a 2006 article:
The new CEO of the Chicago Sun-Times' parent company, Cyrus F.
Freidheim Jr., promised changes ahead at Sun-Times Media Group Inc.

"We need to take decisive action to stabilize and then grow revenues,
and further reduce costs. That is what we will do, and we intend to
move quickly," he said in a statement. Mr. Freidheim, 71, was named
president and chief executive last week to replace Gordon Paris.

He joins a company hit hard by weak ad sales, past circulation fraud
and the shadow of mismanagement under former CEO Conrad Black. Major
shareholders are pressing for the sale of the company, which publishes
dozens of suburban Chicago newspapers in addition to the Sun-Times.

"I'm here to put them on a strong financial footing. That's my job.
And then we've got options," he said, in an interview.

"There's no way we could sell it (the Sun-Times) for any price that
would be attractive" right now, he added. Sun-Times Media's shares
closed Wednesday at $5.55, up 2 cents, but well below its price two
years ago of more than $17 a share. Not a pretty picture.

How bad is it? Circulation help desks, and advertising creative-
production employees will be off-shored to India where the educated
work force is very happy to take the jobs for one third the cost in
the U.S. How long before copy editing goes offshore?

taken verbatim from http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-071128ravelston-ruling,0,1...

Black company owes Sun-Times $13 million, judge rules
By Ameet Sachdev | Tribune staff reporter
11:15 AM CST, November 28, 2007
Article tools
E-mail Share
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Single page view Reprints Post Comment Text size:  A federal judge
Wednesday ordered Conrad Black's once-powerful Canadian holding
company, Ravelston Corp., to pay $13 million to the parent company of
the Chicago Sun-Times as punishment for taking part in a scheme to
defraud the company's shareholders.

But it's highly unlikely that the Sun-Times Media Group Inc. will ever
be paid because Ravelston currently can't meet its debt obligations,
said the court-appointed receiver for Ravelston, which is under
bankruptcy protection in Canada.

Ravelston pleaded guilty in March to its role in the fraud and at the
time agreed to pay a $7 million fine.

At Ravelston's sentencing hearing Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Amy
St. Eve also ordered the company to pay $6 million in restitution. The
punishment could have been worse but the judge took into account
Ravelston's cooperation with prosecutors.

The $13 million penalty will become an unsecured claim in Ravelston's
bankruptcy case, said Robert Kofman, the receiver.

Black remains Ravelston's majority shareholder, but he no longer has
control over Sun-Times Media Group, formerly known as Hollinger
International Inc., which owned a number of other newspapers in
addition to the Sun-Times. Black had waged a hard-fought but
ultimately unsuccessful battle in Canadian courts to prevent Ravelston
from pleading guilty.

In July Black and three former Hollinger executives were convicted of
fraud for fleecing shareholders through a bogus non-compete agreement
scheme that funneled money away from Hollinger International to the
defendants.

Black also was convicted of obstruction of justice for taking 13 boxes
out of his Toronto office during the federal investigation.

Black, Peter Atkinson, John Boultbee and Mark Kipnis are scheduled to
be sentenced on Dec. 10. Black's top deputy, former Sun-Times
publisher David Radler, pleaded guilty before the trial and will be
sentenced Dec. 17.

asach...@tribune.com

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=ne...

November 28, 2007 10:53 AM Eastern Time
Sun-Times News Group Warns of NorthShore Magazine Subscription Scam
CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Sun-Times News Group today warned North
Shore residents and subscribers to its NorthShore Magazine of a scam
to charge for subscriptions to NorthShore Magazine, which are free.
Sun-Times officials say they have notified law enforcement officials.

They say that over the holiday weekend, subscribers and residents
began receiving official-looking "invoices" from a company called
Publishers Periodical Service titled "Notice of Renewal/New Order."
The document requested payment of $15 for a subscription of one year
and $30 for three years. In addition, the document requested payment
by check or money order only to PPS at 1350 Flamingo Road #749, Las
Vegas, NV 89119.

Reports of the alleged fraud have come from Glenview, Morton Grove and
Northbrook. Persons calling the phone number on the invoice either are
greeted by an answering machine, or when the call is answered and
questions are asked, the person on the line hangs up.

"NorthShore Magazine is free to subscribers in metropolitan Chicago
and has been free for almost two years," said Larry Green, president
and publisher of the Sun-Times News Group's Pioneer Press, which
publishes NorthShore Magazine.

"Under no circumstances should anybody respond to this offer," said
Green.

Chicago Tribune Sale OK by FCC (same sale sector as embattled Sun
Times media)

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-tribune29nov29,1,1807463.story?...

FCC expected to lift barrier to Tribune deal
template_bas
template_bas
The agency is poised to approve a plan by Chairman Kevin Martin to
waive for two years a rule barring ownership of a newspaper and a
broadcast property in one market.
By Jim Puzzanghera, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
November 29, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Federal regulators are poised to approve Tribune Co.'s
$8.2-billion deal to go private by the end of the week, clearing the
way for the transaction to close by Dec. 31.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin removed the
remaining regulatory obstacle to the deal Wednesday, proposing to
exempt Tribune for two years from rules prohibiting ownership of a
newspaper and a broadcast station in the same market. Tribune needs
the waivers for its newspaper and TV combinations in Los Angeles,
Chicago, New York, South Florida and Hartford, Conn.

The FCC is expected to approve the proposal by Friday, giving Tribune
time to complete the transaction by the end of the year. The Chicago-
based owner of The Times and KTLA-TV Channel 5 faces financial
penalties if the deal, led by real estate magnate Sam Zell, closes
after that.

"Based on Chairman Martin's description of his proposal . . . we are
pleased, and believe that, if we get the commission's vote by Friday,
we will be on track to close the Tribune transaction by year end,"
Zell said in a written statement.

Amid a Wall Street rally Wednesday, Tribune's stock shot up 10% to $30
on the news. But even that surge left the stock 12% below the $34
buyout price, indicating that some investors are doubtful the deal
will close.

Tribune has said consistently that the financing is locked in place.

"The banks are still committed, and there is no indication of any
change in the terms," said a person close to the deal who spoke on
condition of anonymity, citing the confidential nature of the
negotiations. Even a delay of a few days could have pushed the process
"down to the wire," the person said, adding: "We need that vote on
Friday."

Tribune's sale of the Chicago Cubs baseball team, meanwhile, could be
delayed until next year, according to baseball Commissioner Bud Selig.
The company hoped to seal a deal this year, with analysts estimating
that bids might top $1 billion.

But Selig said Tribune would not release financial data on the team to
potential buyers until January. "People haven't even started bidding
yet," Selig told the Reuters Media Summit.

At the FCC, the proposed waivers would cover the company while Martin
pushes a broader plan to ease the cross-ownership ban in the nation's
top 20 markets. Under that plan, Tribune could continue to own its
newspapers and TV stations in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and South
Florida but would have to sell its paper or two TV stations in
Hartford. The waivers apparently would allow Tribune to keep its
Hartford properties for two years.

Martin would like to vote on the rule change Dec. 18. But Tribune
executives had complained that waiting until then would prevent the
deal from closing this year, because it needed 20 business days to be
completed. Zell personally met with Martin this month to lobby for
waivers.

If the FCC adopts Martin's cross-ownership change, public-interest
groups plan to sue the commission to block it.

Martin said the two-year Tribune waiver proposal would allow time for
that to take place. The waivers are for either two years or for six
months after any litigation ends, whichever is longer, he said.

"We should give people an opportunity to see how this all shakes out,
and I would anticipate that would take quite some time," Martin said.
"I don't think it's appropriate to require companies to be divesting
properties when there's litigation going on."

Tribune would be able to trigger the two-year waivers itself by going
to court to appeal the FCC's decision not to grant indefinite waivers.
That would allow the company to get the waivers if the cross-ownership
vote is delayed or fails.

A majority of the five-member commission still must approve the
waivers, but Martin is almost certain to get a majority with the votes
of his two Republican colleagues. Martin also would provide additional
relief for Tribune in Chicago. His cross-ownership plan bars a company
that owns a newspaper from owning more than one broadcast station in a
market, and it also prohibits ownership of one of the four highest-
rated TV stations. Under that plan, Tribune would be required to sell
radio station WGN-AM (720) or WGN-TV Channel 9 in Chicago. The TV
station wasn't in the top four in October, but it has been as high as
No. 2 this year.

Martin said his waiver plan would let Tribune keep those stations,
which were grandfathered when the cross-ownership ban was enacted in
1975.

Public-interest groups, which oppose media consolidation, said they
were disappointed that Martin was giving Tribune special treatment.

"It's one thing to be given a reasonable time to dispose of properties
at a fair market price. Two years goes far beyond that," said Gene
Kimmelman, a Consumers Union official.

The FCC's two Democrats, Michael J. Copps and Jonathan S. Adelstein,
are unlikely to vote for the waivers. But they have complained that
Martin has been using the Tribune deal to push his cross-ownership
change by the end of the year.

"Tribune, long a respected and influential institution of American
journalism, has been used as a human shield to provide cover for
broader rule changes, even at risk to the life of the hostage itself,"
Adelstein said at an FCC meeting Tuesday.

Martin denied that Wednesday, saying he had been trying to find a way
to allow the Tribune deal to close while sticking to recent FCC policy
of not issuing indefinite waivers to the cross-ownership rule.

jim.puzzangh...@latimes.com

Staff writer Thomas S. Mulligan contributed to this report.

an almost classic head and shoulders between tue nov 27 and thurs the
29th - peaking on wed at 1.15 - now down to 99 cents.  i am still
buying.

a dead cat bounce is coming.

dead cats may bounce - but road kill does not.  this aint going
anywhere for a long long while

if the market goes down i wonder if this stock will go down as well -
or if it will just stay where it is.  how low can this stock go?

Stock at 1.15 - the dow is up 2% and the stock is up 12%

Conrad Black Gets 6.5 Years in Prison for Defrauding Hollinger -- (now
SVN) Prosecutors argued the defendants were responsible for the theft
of at least $32 million from Hollinger.

i do not think that this stock will go above 7 dollars.

Yesterday Tuesday Dec 11th the dow dropped 300 points, and this stock
barely nudged - unlike the rest of my portfolio.  This may be the
bottom.  Time to buy.

Yesterday Tuesday Dec 11th the dow dropped 300 points, and this stock
barely nudged - unlike the rest of my portfolio.  This may be the
bottom.  Time to buy.