Executive officers and the CEO of U.S. newspaper publisher Lee Enterprises won't receive pay increases, bonuses or long-term incentive plans this year, according to the company's annual U.S. government proxy filing, Reuters blogs reported Tuesday.

"For 2009, we have frozen NEO salaries ... due to difficult economic conditions affecting the Company, the publishing industry and the overall economy," the Davenport, Iowa-based Lee stated in the filing.

Lee CEO Mary Junck did not receive a bonus in 2008, but did receive a 3 percent pay raise in October 2007 to up her 2008 salary to US$850,000, paidContent reported. Four other top executives, including two vice presidents of publishing, the chief financial officer and vice president of human services, did receive bonuses in 2008, paidContent reported in an article posted by The Washington Post.

Overall in 2008, Junck received $2.5 million, down 32.4 percent from the $3.7 million she received in 2007.

Freezing pay and halting bonuses and incentive plans "avoid building up a restive employee base," Reuters' Robert MacMillan states in the blog. "Lee is in trouble if it can't negotiate new terms with its lenders -- debt could overwhelm the company and potentially break it up."

Along with Lee, MacMillan gives the example of Gannett Co., Inc. as practising good public relations with the industry, as well as good employee relations. Although Gannett announced it is furloughing employees for a week, Gannett executives are also subject to the furlough, and the company's CEO is taking a voluntary pay cut. However, MacMillan points out, that employee goodwill was likely weakened or lost after Robert Dickey, president of Gannett's U.S. Community Publishing, announced the company may shut down its Tuscon Citizen, and then left to play in a charity golf tournament in California, according to Gawker.

Earlier this month, Lee received a waiver on $3.6 million of senior notes on its debt payments, part of the $1.5 billion it borrowed to buy Pulitzer Inc., the parent company of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Had it not received the waiver, it would might have been given an accelerated repayment schedule, according to paidContent.

For the full proxy statement on Lee's investor page, click here.