Tribune Company Files for Bankruptcy

(NEWSER) - The bankrupt Tribune Company could emerge from protection with its top creditors—and not chairman Sam Zell—in charge, the Chicago Tribune reports. Zell exerts control based on $90 million he spent to secure the option of buying 40% of the company for $500 million, and a $250 million loan. Those numbers pale in comparison to the $8.6 billion Tribune owes lenders with first dibs on assets. More»

Saddled with debt, media company looks at Chapter 11

(NEWSER) - The Tribune Co. has hired a financial adviser to help it file for bankruptcy as early as this week, the Wall Street Journal reports. Facing $12 billion in debt and shrinking profits, the owner of the Chicago Cubs and several newspapers has also brought in legal counsel to guide it through bankruptcy court. The Tribune's new adviser, Lazard Ltd., is savvy at debt restructuring and has helped other newspaper companies. More»

Ann Marie Lipinski ends 7-year run in job 'not the fit it once was'

(AP) - Chicago Tribune editor Ann Marie Lipinski handed in her resignation today after 7 years in the top post at the Tribune Company's flagship paper. Lipinski's departure comes a week after the 161-year-old newspaper told its staff it would eliminate about 80 newsroom jobs amid a broad effort to cut costs as advertising and circulation revenues decline at its newspapers nationwide. More»

Zell plans to slice pages to offset $13B debt

(NEWSER) - Publisher Sam Zell has announced he'll quickly slash pages and more editorial jobs to offset huge debts and a larger-than-anticipated decline in advertising revenue at his newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune. An 80-page edition of the Tribune could be sliced to 48 pages, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. The papers have already lost a significant number of staffers to buyouts. More»

Chicago institution breaks Blagojevich news, and is a player in corruption allegations

(NEWSER) - What a difference a day makes for the Chicago Tribune, which yesterday broke the story of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s arrest, and was itself an object of his alleged corrupting intentions—just a day after its parent company declared bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal notes. “It’s pretty electric right now,” a top editor said of the newsroom atmosphere. More»