Significant Accounting Policies

6 Months Ended

Jun. 24, 2012

Significant Accounting Policies [Abstract]

SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

NOTE 1. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The McClatchy Company (“McClatchy” or the “Company”) is a leading news, advertising and information provider, offering a wide array of print and digital products in each of the markets it serves. As the third largest newspaper company in the United States, McClatchy’s operations include 30 daily newspapers, community newspapers, websites, mobile news and advertising, niche publications, direct marketing and direct mail services. The Company’s largest newspapers include The Miami Herald, The Sacramento Bee, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, The Kansas City Star, The Charlotte Observer and The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C.

McClatchy also owns a portfolio of premium digital assets, including 15.0% of CareerBuilder LLC, which operates the nation’s largest online job site, CareerBuilder.com, 25.6% of Classified Ventures LLC, a company that offers classified websites such as the auto website Cars.com and the rental site Apartments.com, and 33.3% of HomeFinder LLC, which operates the online real estate website HomeFinder.com. McClatchy is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MNI.

The condensed consolidated financial statements include the Company and its subsidiaries. Intercompany items and transactions are eliminated. In preparing the financial statements, management makes estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements contain all adjustments necessary to present fairly the Company’s financial position, results of operations, and cash flows for the interim periods presented. The financial statements contained in this report are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year. These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the condensed consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 25, 2011.

Stock-based compensation – All share-based payments, including grants of stock appreciation rights, restricted stock units and common stock under equity incentive plans, are recognized in the financial statements based on their fair values. At June 24, 2012, the Company had five stock-based compensation plans . Compensation expense for the plans is summarized below:

	For the Three Months Ended				For the Six Months Ended
	June 24, 2012		June 26, 2011		June 24, 2012		June 26, 2011
Stock-based compensation expense	$	0.9 million	$	1.1 million	$	1.8 million	$	2.7 million

Income taxes – The Company accounts for income taxes using the asset and liability method. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on differences between the financial reporting and tax bases of assets and liabilities and are measured using the enacted tax rates and laws that are expected to be in effect when the differences are expected to reverse.

Generally accepted accounting principles prescribe a recognition threshold and measurement of a tax position taken or expected to be taken in an enterprise’s tax returns. The Company recognizes accrued interest related to unrecognized tax benefits in interest expense. Accrued penalties are recognized as a component of income tax expense.

Fair value of financial instruments – Generally accepted accounting principles require the disclosure of the fair value of certain financial instruments, whether or not recognized in the balance sheet, for which it is practicable to estimate fair value. Fair value measurements accounting principles establishes a framework for measuring fair value of assets and liabilities. This framework provides a hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). For Level 1, inputs to the valuation methodology are quoted prices available in active markets for identical investments as of the reporting date.

The Company estimated the fair values presented below using appropriate valuation methodologies and market information available as of the end of the period covered by this report. These valuations are considered Level 1 measurements. However, the estimates presented are not necessarily indicative of the amounts that the Company could realize in a current market exchange. The use of different market assumptions or estimation methodologies could have a material effect on the estimated fair values. Additionally, the fair values were estimated at the end of the second fiscal quarter of 2012, and current estimates of fair value may differ significantly from the amounts presented.

The following methods and assumptions were used to estimate the fair value of each class of financial instruments:

Cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, certificate of deposits (in other assets) and accounts payable. The carrying amount of these items approximates fair value.

Long-term debt. The fair value of long-term debt is determined based on a number of observable inputs, including the current market activity of the Company’s publicly-traded notes and bank debt, trends in investor demand and market values of comparable publicly-traded debt. At June 24, 2012, the estimated fair value of long-term debt was $1.4 billion and the carrying value of long-term debt was $1.5 billion.

Comprehensive income (loss) –The Company records changes in its net assets from non-owner sources in its Consolidated Statement of Stockholders’ Equity. Such changes relate primarily to valuing its pension liabilities, net of tax effects. The following table summarizes the changes in other comprehensive income (loss):

	Changes to Comprehensive Income (Loss)
(in thousands)	Pre-Tax			Tax			After-Tax
Quarter Ended June 24, 2012:
Pension and post retirement plans:
Unamortized gain	$	3,106		$	(1,242	)	$	1,864
Prior service cost		(258	)		103			(155	)
Other comprehensive loss related to equity investments		(1,178	)		471			(707	)
	$	1,670		$	(668	)	$	1,002
Quarter Ended June 26, 2011:
Pension and post retirement plans:
Unamortized loss	$	(31,621	)	$	12,654		$	(18,967	)
Prior service cost		(258	)		103			(155	)
Other comprehensive loss related to equity investments		(296	)		118			(178	)
	$	(32,175	)	$	12,875		$	(19,300	)
	Changes to Comprehensive Income (Loss)
(in thousands)	Pre-Tax			Tax			After-Tax
Six Months Ended June 24, 2012:
Pension and post retirement plans:
Unamortized gain	$	6,031		$	(2,412	)	$	3,619
Prior service cost		(533	)		213			(320	)
Other comprehensive loss related to equity investments		(2,154	)		862			(1,292	)
	$	3,344		$	(1,337	)	$	2,007
Six Months Ended June 26, 2011:
Pension and post retirement plans:
Unamortized loss	$	(30,346	)	$	12,144		$	(18,202	)
Prior service cost		(533	)		213			(320	)
Other comprehensive gain related to equity investments		747			(299	)		448
	$	(30,132	)	$	12,058		$	(18,074	)

Earnings per share (EPS) – Basic EPS excludes dilution from common stock equivalents and reflects income divided by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding for the period. Diluted EPS is based upon the weighted average number of outstanding shares of common stock and dilutive common stock equivalents in the period. Common stock equivalents arise from dilutive stock options, restricted stock units and restricted stock and are computed using the treasury stock method. Anti-dilutive common stock equivalents are excluded from diluted EPS. The weighted average anti-dilutive stock options that could potentially dilute basic EPS in the future, but were not included in the weighted average share calculation is summarized below:

	For the Three Months Ended				For the Six Months Ended
	June 24, 2012		June 26, 2011		June 24, 2012		June 26, 2011
Anti-dilutive stock options		6.3 million		6.7 million		6.0 million		5.7 million

New accounting pronouncements – In May 2011, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued a single authoritative guidance on a framework on how to measure fair value and on what disclosures to provide about fair value measurements. The FASB also clarified existing fair value measurement disclosures and made other amendments to current guidance. These amended standards and the adoption of this disclosure-only guidance was effective for the Company’s first fiscal quarter of 2012 and did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial results.

In June 2011, the FASB issued guidance that revises the manner in which entities present comprehensive income in their financial statements. The new guidance removes the presentation options in previous guidance and requires entities to report components of comprehensive income in either (1) a continuous statement of comprehensive income or (2) two separate but consecutive statements. The new guidance does not change the items that must be reported in other comprehensive income. This amended guidance was effective for the Company’s first fiscal quarter of 2012 and did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial results or disclosures.