Ben Eason, the CEO of Creative Loafing, has offered to step down according to a report in the St. Petersburg Times. Creative Loafing, which owns the Chicago Reader and other weekly alternative newspapers, is in bankruptcy. As reported by Michael Miner in his Chicago Reader column, the company will be auctioned August 25^th at which time the largest creditor, Atalaya Capital Management, is expected to win control of the assets.

After that, things are very hazy. If the Reader is itself profitable, we can expect it to continue to publish, while Atalaya searches for a buyer. But what brave soul is going to step forward in this economy to publish the Reader?

Eason put on a brave front, telling the Times that he was confident of winning after filing court papers asking the bankruptcy court to block Atalaya from winning the bid because, as the Times reported, “Atalaya's potentially decisive bid might hurt Creative Loafing and its employees.”

Blocking Atalaya would probably allow Eason to remain in control of the chain of newspapers. Why should a court do that? It’s hard for me to feel for Eason, who took a gamble, placing the company in significant debt to purchase a chain of alternative weekly newspapers. He followed that up by fleeing to the protection of the bankruptcy court, hoping to remain in control of the company. Now, nearly a year later, after the largest creditor has rejected his plans and successfully petitioned the court to place the company up for auction, he is still working to remain in control of CLI.

What has Eason offered to the Reader during his stewardship? How has he improved it as a product? Is it any wonder his creditor has lost faith in his ability to lead the company? Assuming he remains in control, will he be able to raise the working capital needed to survive this recession?

Meanwhile, at the Reader itself, the future of talented people is in doubt.