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July 5, 2008 5:20:18 PM CDT

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Zell Turns to Radio Talent to Shake Up Newspapers

Posted Apr 7, 08 8:20 AM CDT in US,  Arts & Living,  Business    Most Covered

(Newser) – New publishing mogul Sam Zell is recruiting colorful veterans from the radio industry in a bid to help save his struggling Tribune Company, the Wall Street Journal reports. Zell is hoping the imports will spark innovation at the company, whose debt has swelled to $12.8 billion amid declining newspaper ad revenue. Most of the new recruits come from Clear Channel Communications; they're expected to shake up Zell's newspapers as they did the radio scene.

Under the direction of Zell and sometimes wacky radio veteran Randy Michaels, his second-in-command, the Tribune’s rather staid Chicago headquarters now sports pinball machines and a jukebox. Another new exec plans to razz colleagues with a “cliché buzzer” when they offer stale ideas. “We know how to have a good time,” he said. “But we also know how to reinvent things—or at least motivate people to do that."

Source Wall Street Journal

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Randy Michaels, center, a radio veteran, is the newly appointed CEO of Tribune's Interactive and Broadcasting divisions.   (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Real estate billionaire Sam Zell responds to a question on his purchase of the Tribune Company during a news conference at the Tribune Tower in Chicago, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2007. Zell took control of newly...   (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
The Tribune Company has $12.8 billion of debt in a market unfavorable to newspapers.   (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)
Sam Zell is seeking out radio veterans to help rebuild the Tribune Company.   (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Reports say Zell is mulling a sale of Newsday to News Corp, which owns the New York Post.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Flags wave along the Michigan Ave. Bridge outside the Chicago Tribune Tower in a Chicago file photo from April 12, 2006. The Federal Communications Commission approved the $8.2 billion buyout of the Tribune...   (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, file)
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Chicago Cubs  • newspaper  • radio  • Tribune Company  • Sam Zell  • Los Angeles Times  • Newsday  • Clear Channel  • Chicago Tribune  • local TV stations


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