Chairman/CEO Steve Smith opens his conference call saying that “business conditions deteriorated throughout the year”, while broadcasting head Doug Kiel reports that “what we’re seeing now is very much what we saw in the last part of the fourth quarter.” So Journal’s braced for “a prolonged recession.” The company is making some important strategic moves – it suspended the company’s 401(k) match, it reduced its dividend from 8 cents a share to two cents, and it discontinued the share re-purchase program. The focus now is on keeping costs down and paying down debt. On the radio side, business in markets like Tucson, Wichita and Springfield, Missouri. Fourth-quarter revenue dropped from $21.4 million to $19.7 million. Journal took a $33.6 million pre-tax “impairment charge” on the reduced market value of its radio licenses. Check the Journal fourth quarter release here.