Basis of Presentation

3 Months Ended

Dec. 27, 2015

Basis of Presentation [Abstract]

Organization Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure [Text Block]

BASIS OF PRESENTATION

The accompanying unaudited, interim, Consolidated Financial Statements included herein have been prepared pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission for quarterly reports. In the opinion of management, these financial statements contain all adjustments (consisting of only normal recurring items) necessary to present fairly the financial position of Lee Enterprises, Incorporated and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 27, 2015 and their results of operations and cash flows for the periods presented. The Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto included in the Company's 2015 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Because of seasonal and other factors, the results of operations for the 13 weeks ended December 27, 2015 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year.

References to “we”, “our”, “us” and the like throughout the Consolidated Financial Statements refer to the Company. References to “2016”, “2015” and the like refer to the fiscal years ended the last Sunday in September.

The Consolidated Financial Statements include our accounts and those of our subsidiaries, all of which are wholly-owned, except for our 50% interest in TNI Partners (“TNI”), 50% interest in Madison Newspapers, Inc. (“MNI”) and 82.5% interest in INN Partners, L.C. ("TownNews").

Investments in TNI and MNI are accounted for using the equity method and are reported at cost, plus our share of undistributed earnings since acquisition less, for TNI, amortization of intangible assets.

Subsequent Events

On January 15, 2016, we received payment of $30,645,628 from our insurer for our share of a subrogation recovery arising from the settlement of claims for damages suffered as a result of a 2009 loss at one of our Lee Legacy production facilities. We expect to record a gain on the transaction in the quarter ended March 27, 2016. Of the total proceeds received by the Company, in January 2016, $20,000,000 was used to reduce outstanding debt under our 1^st Lien Term Loan (as defined below) and, to the extent permissible and available at a discount, we intend to use some portion of the remaining proceeds to repurchase outstanding Notes (as defined below) in the quarter ending March 27, 2016.