Paper accused of concealing candidate's links to Palestinian scholar

Los Angeles Times Oct 29, 08 3:14 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The McCain campaign is accusing the Los Angeles Tim es of shirking its journalistic duty by sitting on a tape of Barack Obama speaking at a 2003 dinner in honor of a Palestinian-American scholar and activist. The Times —which wrote about the tape in an April article on Obama's ties to Chicago-area Jews and Palestinians—says it is merely keeping its promise to its confidential source.
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Democrat's 'character and temperament' are what country needs

Los Angeles Times Oct 18, 08 8:53 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The Los Angeles Times today endorsed Barack Obama for president “without hesitation,” citing his combination of “grace under pressure” and “passion to inspire the best within us.” His campaign was at first lit by the newness of his personal narrative, but “as the presidential race draws to its conclusion, it is Obama's character and temperament that come to the fore,” the Times ’ editors write in the paper's first endorsement for top office since 1972, and first-ever for a Democratic presidential candidate.
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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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Eddy Hartenstein takes helm in tough times

Los Angeles Times Aug 16, 08 10:57 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Eddy Hartenstein, former head of DirecTV, will become publisher of the Los Angeles Times on Monday, the paper reports. Hartenstein will be coming aboard the paper during a downturn for the industry—and for the LA Times in particular—with readership of the paper down to 774,000 from 1.2 million in the early '90s.
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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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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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USA Today, WSJ only big names to buck accelerating downward trend

Bloomberg Apr 28, 08 4:37 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Newspaper circulation contracted the past six months as competition from Internet sources and cutbacks in advertising decreased sales, Bloomberg reports. Circulation dropped 3.6% for the industry as a whole, with only USA Today and the Wall Street Journal enjoying slightly increased circulation among the 25 largest papers. "The decline is certainly worse than in the past few years,'' one analyst said.
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Paper clears site of article, reporter's chat and blog posts

Los Angeles Times Apr 7, 08 11:01 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The Los Angeles Times today formally retracted its story that had an FBI informant implicating Sean "Diddy" Combs in a 1994 assault on fellow rapper Tupac Shakur. The paper previously apologized and reported that documents key to the March 17 story appeared to have been a hoax; it said today it was removing that story, and related posts, from its website.
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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 e