As Journal Communications stock plummeted  in value and Journal Communications employees lost their jobs, CEO Steve Smith did the real corporate thing: he grabbed the money and screwed his stockholders.

Reported the paper in March:

Total compensation increased almost 22% last year for Journal Communications Inc. chairman and chief executive Steven J. Smith, according to a regulatory filing by the company Thursday.

Smith earned no bonus, but his salary rose 3.7% to $798,077. He received stock awards worth $1,672 and option awards valued at $397,003, a proxy statement for the Milwaukee-based media company and publisher of the Journal Sentinel said. The biggest change in compensation was in the value of Smith’s retirement benefits, which grew to $233,110, compared with $74,782 in 2007. He received other compensation last year worth $16,095.

Journal Communications posted a $224.4 million loss in 2008.

And then, this morning, we are treated to this:

Citing “the challenging economic environment,” the board of Journal Communications Inc. said Thursday it will suspend the dividend on Class A and Class B shares of its stock.

Quarterly dividends on the shares had been cut to 2 cents from 8 cents in February.

“While we regret having to make this difficult decision, we believe this is the prudent choice in order to maintain financial flexibility,” said Steven J. Smith, chairman of Journal Communications. “Given the continued challenging economy and business conditions, we believe that this will allow the company to continue to direct a significant portion of its cash flow to debt reduction.”

What a damned joke.