Boss not shooting straight: lawsuit
Wall Street Journal Sep 17, 08 10:15 AM CDT
(Newser)
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A group of current and former Los Angeles Times journalists is suing the Tribune Company for recklessly mismanaging the chain of newspapers, the Wall Street Journal reports. The suit claims billionaire boss Sam Zell has trashed the company in a hunt for quick profits, destroying the value of their pension and stock-ownership plans—though the stock plan is majority owner in the unusual buyout scheme.
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Anonymous journo bashes paper's owner as heads keep rolling
New York Times Jul 21, 08 8:14 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Heads continue to roll at the Tribune Company, but one staffer is aiming to prove the pen is mightier than Sam Zell's ax, reports the New York Times, with new blog TellZell.com. The site is airing the gripes of Tribune's disgruntled journalists, and is finding plenty of fodder—from top-level resignations at the LA Times to publishing the unreleased list of employees facing layoffs.
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Tribune Co. loses another top-level staffer as it prepares for big job cuts
Reuters Jul 15, 08 2:08 AM CDT
(Newser)
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A bad day for the Tribune Company got even worse yesterday with the resignation of Los Angeles Times publisher David Hiller, Reuters reports. Hiller is leaving after less than 2 years with the paper as Tribune owner Sam Zell prepares to cut jobs again and reduce pages at his papers. The editor of the Chicago Tribune, another of Zell's media properties , quit earlier yesterday.
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Ann Marie Lipinski
ends 7-year run in job 'not the fit it once was'
Associated Press Jul 14, 08 3:58 PM CDT
(AP)
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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.
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Tribune Tower may hit market as Zell looks to pay down debt on giant media company
Chicago Sun-Times Jun 25, 08 9:44 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Saddled by debt from his acquisition of the Tribune Company media empire, billionaire Sam Zell may sell off the iconic Chicago headquarters of the Tribune newspaper, he said yesterday. The 83-year-old Tribune Tower could fetch $250 million, analysts told the Sun-Times , with Zell likely needing to assure a new owner that the newspaper would continue to occupy the building on a long-term lease to fetch maximum value.
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analysis
Newspapers reeling from low ad revenue
Bloomberg Jun 19, 08 5:43 PM CDT
(Newser)
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As the newspaper industry continues its accelerating skid into the red, even billionaire Sam Zell's Tribune Company is on track to default on its massive loans as soon as the end of the year, an analyst predicts. The parent of the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times is far from alone. Bloomberg takes a look at the industry as it struggles to overcome historic lows in advertising revenue.
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OPINION
'Visiting Visigoth' trashes serious journalism at LA Times
Washington Post Jun 11, 08 12:35 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Sam Zell isn't just diminishing the great newspapers he bought in acquiring the Tribune Company, Harold Meyerson writes in the Washington Post —he's doing a grave disservice to cities that have supported the likes of the Los Angeles Times . "Zell has taken bean counting to a whole new level," leaving the paper "dumbed down" as he trims news coverage to equal space devoted to advertising.
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Analysis
News cuts may stem advertising losses or hemorrhage them
New York Times Jun 9, 08 5:58 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Sam Zell and his Tribune Company announced last week that they would trim 500 pages of news each week from the conglomerate's dozen newspapers, including the LA Times and the Chicago Tribune . But is a paper split 50-50 between news and ads the solution for an industry in crisis? The New York Times looks at the viability of a radical plan.
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Zell plans to slice pages to offset $13B debt
Chicago Sun-Times Jun 6, 08 4:42 AM CDT
(Newser)
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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.
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News Corp. calls matching Cablevision's $650 million offer "uneconomical"
Reuters May 10, 08 1:44 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Rupert Murdoch has dropped his $580 million bid for Newsday . Cable operator Cablevision has offered $650 million for the Long Island daily, and Murdoch’s News Corp. said a higher bid would be “uneconomical.” The media tycoon’s dropout was unexpected, Reuters says, considering Murdoch recently told investors a deal was nearly done. A $580 million bid from Mortimer Zuckerman, owner of the rival Daily News , remains on the table.
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Zuckerman v. Murdoch fight may hinge on
who can clear FCC
New York Times Apr 26, 08 6:02 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Daily News owner Mort Zuckerman has matched Rupert Murdoch's bid for Newsday , the New York Times reports—but didn't go a penny over the $580 million the New York Post owner offered. Instead Zuckerman claimed his bid is the better one because, unlike Murdoch's, it doesn't run the risk of running into an FCC tripwire.
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Tribune chief hiring radio veterans to help company
Wall Street Journal Apr 7, 08 8:20 AM CDT
(Newser)
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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.
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ANALYSIS
New paper owners face outlook grimmer than those that scared off predecessors
New York Times Mar 24, 08 11:07 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Just last year, Sam Zell was optimistic enough about newspapers to buy the Tribune Company. Now he’s selling Newsday , one of the conglomerate’s top publications. “The news business is something worse than horrible,” he said recently. Across the industry, gung-ho new owners like Zell are experiencing buyer’s remorse, David Carr writes in the New York Times .
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