WILMINGTON, Del. (September 1, 2009)--The owner of dozens of daily U.S. newspapers, including several in Texas, is the latest publisher to seek bankruptcy protection.

Orange County, Calif.-based Freedom Communications said Tuesday a jarring drop in advertising revenue has hurt it.

In the filing in a Delaware bankruptcy court, Freedom cited debts of more than $1 billion and assets of $500 million to $1 billion.

Freedom says it has already reached agreement with most of its creditors on a reorganization plan.

The company's been struggling to bring in enough money to repay its debt for the past year.

It has required workers to take unpaid leave and imposed an across-the-board 5 percent cut in wages.

In Texas, the company owns the Odessa American, The Monitor in McAllen, the Valley Morning Star in Harlingen, The Brownsville Herald and the weekly Mid-Valley Town Crier in Weslaco.

It also owns KFDM-TV in Beaumont.