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WASHINGTON (AFP) – The Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and other newspapers owned by the Tribune Co. plan to cut back on use of the Associated Press (AP) next week to test whether they can do without content from the US news agency. The Chicago Tribune said the plan to "utilize as little content from the Associated Press as practical" was aimed at determining whether the Tribune Co., which declared bankruptcy in December, can sever ties with the AP. The Chicago-based Tribune Co. has been looking for ways to cut costs and in October 2008 it gave the AP the...

Tribune Co., owner of The Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times and several other news outlets, will not use most Associated Press content next week to test whether the financially struggling company can do without it, according to a story on the Chicago Tribune's Web site. Tribune said it will use some AP material such as sports statistics and stories it considers vital. The Chicago-based company said it is trying to determine whether severing ties with the news cooperative next fall is a viable option. The company's television stations and newspapers' online editions will not participate in the experiment. Tribune...

Last November, the American people elected a man president who has never had management or executive experience, and who has only had two years experience in the Senate and a background of associations with persons of far-left ideology and those of shady character. Why did the people make this choice? Some say that Barack Obama has a messianic quality. However, columnist Charles Krauthammer (on Sept. 7) came up with another title that I think fits him better. He said that Obama fancies himself the "Tribune of the People." It is a Roman title that reminds me that Obama used balsa...

If this isn't the perfect example that liberals don't care who has to die in order to make sure that left wing policies win the day, then nothing does. We can see this prime example in Eric Zorn's horrid August 28 editorial where he thanks ... well, whatever deity leftists believe in, if any... that the country didn't quickly find out about the homicide of Mary Jo Kopechne that was committed by Teddy Kennedy in July of 1969. Zorn is happy that the news of Teddy’s crime was quashed for hours as the poor woman slowly drowned while Teddy boy...

Disgruntled Tribune Co. bondholders have asked a U.S. bankruptcy judge to let them investigate Sam Zell's 2007 buyout of the newspaper-and-television chain in an effort to derail a plan that would hand the company over to its banks. The filing, made late Wednesday, calls the $8.2 billion transaction a "fraudulent conveyance" that left Tribune insolvent from the onset of the 2007 deal. It accuses senior lenders led by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. of completing a leveraged buyout they should have known would push the company into bankruptcy. "Fraudulent conveyance" is a legal term most often used in bankruptcy court,...

Sam Zell's days as a media titan in Chicago are nearly over. The motorcycle-riding billionaire, renowned for his deft touch with real estate and corporate turnarounds, took Tribune Co. private in late 2007 promising to energize the lumbering company. He piled on debt at exactly the wrong time, and a collapse in advertising for traditional media forced him to take the company to Chapter 11 bankruptcy. » Click to enlarge image Tribune Co. Chairman and CEO Sam Zell (AP) Eight months after the filing, two sources familiar with the process said creditors are working on a reorganization plan that elbows...

For Tribune Co. boss Sam Zell, it's time to play hardball on the sale of his baseball team. Tribune said Thursday it has opened negotiations with other bidders in the sale of the Cubs. People involved in the process said Zell is trying to increase pressure on the Ricketts family to close a deal for around $900 million. After exclusively negotiating with Ricketts, no deal has closed, but one insider said it's close. Sources said Tribune, which is in bankruptcy court, has reopened talks with a New York-based investment group that includes investors Marc Utay and Leo Hindery. Chicago-based bond...

Chicago-based Tribune Co. and its creditors are in the early stages of negotiating a plan of reorganization in U.S. Bankruptcy Court that sources said likely would transfer control of the troubled media conglomerate from Chicago billionaire Sam Zell to a group of large banks and investors that holds $8.6 billion in senior debt. The plan is still taking shape, the sources said, and much could change as negotiations continue. But the general contours of a new capital structure are coming into focus, and the plan centers on a debt-for-equity swap that probably would give the senior lenders a large majority...

:Two months after denouncing a troubled financial company for doling out hefty management bonuses, a bankrupt news media company is doing the same thing.

CHICAGO (AP) — Reporters at the Chicago Tribune say they believe the marketing department in recent weeks solicited subscribers' opinions on stories before they were published, a practice they said raises ethical questions, as well as legal and competitive issues. An e-mail signed by 55 reporters and editors, sent Wednesday to Editor Gerould Kern and Managing Editor Jane Hirt and obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, questions why the newspaper was conducting the surveys and what stories were used. They also wanted to know which readers were surveyed and whether any story had been altered as a result of reader...

The Chicago Tribune today reduced its newsroom staff, a response to the economic downturn and changes in the media business model. The exit of 53 editorial employees is part of a paper-wide cost-cutting effort. Tribune Editor Gerould Kern said in a letter to staff that cuts are part of a newsroom reorganization that “will focus us more clearly on our core mission” going forward with a newsgathering team of around 430. “With today’s actions, we are making the leap to a newsroom structure that we believe is sustainable barring further significant declines in advertising revenue,” Kern wrote. “While some are...

Obama's in for it now. Some local conservatives are throwing a "tea party." It won't be long until Utah severs relations with ol' King 'Bama.Adam Gardiner is organizing the soiree for April 15, high noon, at the Federal Building downtown. He's expecting a fist-shaking group of frustrated and powerless right wingers, including congressmen Jason Chaffetz and Rob Bishop. And you can bet publicity bottom-feeder Mark Shurtleff will be there. The A.G. has set his cap the seat of Sen. Bob "Burn a Flag" Bennett and this is just the crowd he's playing to.An this should bring tears to wing nut...

In a memo to employees Friday, Chicago Tribune Media Group CEO Tony Hunter said there will be more job reductions at the flagship Trib and siblings such as RedEye as the company takes “decisive action” to cut cost. Hunter wrote that the unspecified changes -- including “streamlining the product portfolio” -- will “result in people leaving the organization over the next few weeks,” though he did not say how many and from what departments. The memo was first reported by Crain's Chicago Business in a Web article by Meghan Streit. Last year the Trib shrank its newsroom by about 70...

A Delaware bankruptcy judge is expected to approve the Tribune Co.'s request to implement a new severance plan for nonunion employees. Tribune attorneys said at a hearing Tuesday that they will submit a modified order for Judge Kevin Carey to sign that would provide for notice to the creditors committee and the U.S. trustee in the case before any payments are made to officers or other insiders. "We don't intend to give them more than what the market bears at this time," Tribune attorney Kevin Lantry assured the judge. Lantry said the company anticipates "a number of layoffs" this year,...

<p>Everyone in power at the Los Angeles Times vowed that 2008 would be the year the paper stopped making news for the wrong reasons — remember how unbelievable 2007 seemed? — and rebuilt its reputation as a top-tier U.S. newspaper. Then Sam Zell came along, followed by yet another change in publisher and editor, the greatest shedding of talent in the paper's history, and more national attention for reasons other than good journalism: one of the most embarrassing retractions ever, the killing of Book Review, Opinion, Real Estate and the Los Angeles Times Poll, waves of emotional farewells, worst in the nation circulation losses, questionable online news decisions, a courtroom accusation that the Times collaborated with Anthony Pellicano, a big Guantanamo correction, and trading away of the Washington Bureau that was a foundation of the Times' national reputation. Plus more.</p>

Before Tribune Co. sought bankruptcy protection on Dec. 8, the Chicago-based media company and Chicago Tribune owner had spent nearly $3 million for legal work related to managing and restructuring its massive debt. Those efforts began as early as March, three months after Chicago real estate investor Sam Zell completed a deal to take Tribune Co. private in a leveraged buyout, according to court documents filed Dec. 26 by Sidley Austin, Tribune Co.'s bankruptcy counsel. Sidley's filing, as well as papers submitted to the bankruptcy court by other Tribune Co. advisers, indicate that the prospect of Chapter 11 reorganization became...

The federal investigation of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has expanded to include his decision to shut a state-run maximum-security prison. FBI agents and investigators from U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s office interviewed Illinois State Senator Dan Rutherford, whose district includes the Pontiac Correctional Center, about the circumstances surrounding Blagojevich’s announcement in May that the facility would close, Rutherford said today. “Information came to me that caused me to pause,” Rutherford, a Republican from Pontiac, said in a statement on his Web site. “Since the closure of Pontiac was announced, it was obvious the decision was not made as a planned effort...

Warner Bros., Twentieth Television, Disney-ABC and NBC Universal face multimillion-dollar ramifications after Tribune's announcement last week that it was declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to restructure its massive debt. Tribune's 23 TV stations are among the biggest buyers of syndicated shows, including Warner Bros.' Two and a Half Men and Friends, Twentieth's Family Guy, Disney-ABC's Legend of the Seeker and NBC Universal's Maury, Jerry Springer and Steve Wilkos. Moreover, a deal to launch CBS Television Distribution's T.D. Jakes next fall is pending. The future of that show, which had been cleared on Tribune stations, is now uncertain, according to many...

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich wanted President-elect Barack Obama "to put something together&something big" in exchange for going along with Obama's choice to fill his vacant U.S. Senate seat, according to a FBI affidavit unsealed following the governor's stunning arrest. "I've got this thing and it's f***ing golden, and, uh, uh, I'm just not giving it up for f***in' nothing. I'm not gonna do it. And I can always use it. I can parachute me there," Blagojevich said in a phone call secretly recorded by the FBI on Nov. 5, the day after the election, according to the affidavit. Click here...

NEW YORK: Faced with declining advertising revenue and mounting debt, the US media has plunged into a deep financial crisis. The publisher of the two most popular dailies, The Los Angeles Times and The Chicago Tribune, has filed for bankruptcy. The New York Times is seeking a $225 million loan against its headquarter in mid-town Manhattan. The popular Miami Herald has been put on sale by its owner. And stocks of CBS, one of the popular new channels, have fallen below $5 in recent weeks. Most American media outlets are now struggling to survive. They have gone into massive cost...

Tribune has hired bankruptcy advisers as the ailing newspaper company faces a potential bankruptcy filing, people briefed on the matter said. The newspaper, which was taken private last year by billionaire investor Samuel Zell, has hired advisers including Lazard and Sidley Austin, one of its longtime law firms, these people said. Tribune has been hobbled by debt related to that sale last year, which has been compounded by the growing drought of advertising for newspapers. It is only the latest — and biggest — sign of duress for the newspaper industry yet.

Tribune Co. is preparing for a possible bankruptcy-protection filing as soon as this week, according to people familiar with the matter, opening a new front of trouble for the newspaper industry. As Tribune continues discussions with its lenders to rework its debt load, the newspaper-and-television concern in recent days ...

Insider-trading charges brought Monday against Mark Cuban, an Internet entrepreneur and owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, could weaken his chances of buying the Chicago Cubs. There was already some doubt whether other baseball owners would welcome the loud and brash self-made billionaire into their fraternity if he had the highest bid. Now, they have something to point to to deny him entry, said a sports economist familiar with baseball ownership decisions. "The charges give the commissioner's office another pretext for turning him down," said Andrew Zimbalist, an economics professor at Smith College. Robert DuPuy, president of Major League...

Sam Zell's Tribune Co. has backed off its demand that a new round of bids for the Chicago Cubs arrive before Thanksgiving. Just days ago, finalists to purchase the storied baseball franchise were told to deliver revised bids and financing plans by Nov. 27. But with instability in the credit markets making the process more arduous, groups vying for the team learned late this week the deadline is now considered soft, according to two people involved with the sale. snip The shift is the latest setback for a sales process that has lasted since Mr. Zell reached a deal to...

Delaying the sale of the Chicago Cubs baseball team cost Tribune Co. its semi-respectable junk bond credit rating Tuesday. After markets closed, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services downgraded its corporate credit rating to CCC from B-. Under S&P's system, the speculative-grade rating suggests that unless economic conditions turn favorable soon -- unlikely for the newspaper business -- Tribune is "not likely to have the capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation." S&P assigned a "recovery rate" rating of 4, suggesting debt-holders can expect to get 30 cents to 50 on the dollar in the event of a payment...

CHICAGO (AP) — The Tribune Company, owner of newspapers including The Los Angeles Times and The Chicago Tribune, along with the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field, said Monday that it lost $121.6 million in the third quarter as newspaper advertising revenue fell. The company, which is privately held, had net income in the comparable quarter a year earlier of $152.8 million. Revenue fell 10.5 percent, to $1.04 billion, from $1.16 billion a year ago, the company said.

Tribune Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, says it swung to a third-quarter loss of $121.6 million as newspaper advertising revenue fell. The loss was a steep decline from profit of $152.8 million a year ago. Revenue fell nearly 11 percent to $1.04 billion from $1.16 billion last year. "We are operating in an exceptionally difficult financial and economic environment," said Chief Executive Sam Zell, in a statement, Monday. "The newspaper industry continues to see extraordinary declines in ad revenues, and Tribune is no exception."

This is a memo from a Los Angeles Times staffer to eight colleagues. At the source's request, I've deleted names Sent: Fri 10/31/2008 2:29 PM From: [Name removed] To: [Names removed] Subject: The worst yet: Tea with Doyle [McManus, LAT DC bureau chief] Gang, Well, let’s just say it's bad in every way it can be bad. Basically, the LAT no longer has a Washington bureau and we will be under the control of the Tribune Co., much like McClatchy is run. The much-touted 3-man committee was basically used to vote the LAT down 2-1 every time. The formal announcement...

The Associated Press (AP) is being dumped by the Tribune Company. According to Editor&Publisher (link repaired), The Tribune Company has given a two-year, pink-slip notice to the AP[ snip ] Those of us who are regular news junkies have long noticed a definite bias in the AP's reporting. Radio host Rush Limbaugh refers to the news source as the "APO" - the "Associated Press Obama." [ snip ]

Tribune Company has given a two-year notice to the Associated Press that its daily newspapers plan to drop the news service, becoming the first major newspaper chain to do so since the recent controversy over new rates began. Tribune, which owns nine daily papers including the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, joins a growing list of newspapers that have sought to end AP contracts, or given notice of that, following plans to introduce a new controversial rate structure in 2009. The notice was given earlier this week. AP Spokesman Paul Colford confirmed the cancellation notice, but said he had...

CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- The Chicago Tribune debuted a dramatically new look, revamping itself in order to comply with a Tribune Co. dictate to have advertising account for at least 50% of the paper every day. The new Tribune is bolder, more graphics-centered and looks similar to many European newspapers. The new paper collapses the front, local and business sections into a single section, and adds a bolder, more graphics-centered look similar to many European newspapers. It also bears a stronger resemblance to the paper's youth-targeted RedEye edition, which may not be a coincidence: RedEye's founding editors, Jane Hirt and Joe...

Paper "Is Where Minority Reporters Can Go to Die" The Chicago Tribune laid off more than 40 newsroom employees on Friday, including a disproportionate number of journalists of color, according to newsroom employees there. "Coupled with last week's voluntary exit of more than 30 journalists," the additional cutback "means the paper has cut 80 people from its editorial staff as part of cost-cutting campaign at all of parent Tribune Co.'s newspapers," Phil Rosenthal wrote on the Tribune's Web site. Among those called in Friday and told their jobs were eliminated was Ray Quintanilla, a 14-year Tribune veteran. "It's sad because...

From: Kern, Gerould W. Sent: Friday, August 15, 2008 1:02 PM To: zzCTC.ALLEDITORIAL Subject: Today's Chicago Tribune newsroom staff departures To the staff: Today is a difficult day in the Chicago Tribune newsroom as we are completing the second part of our reduction in force. Colleagues who are leaving today gave many years of service to this newspaper and forged lasting friendships and associations here. Endings are never easy. We thank them for their dedication and contributions to the success of the Chicago Tribune over their careers. We wish them only the best in the future. On July 25, Bob...

Privately held Tribune Co. Wednesday reported a $4.5 billion loss in the second quarter, largely on a charge reflecting a decrease in the value of its assets, and said advertising revenue at its newspapers dropped 15%. Tribune has endured numerous financial difficulties since it was acquired by real-estate developer Sam Zell in an $8.2 billion deal that took the business private. The financing of his transaction involved the creation of an employee stock program that has incurred a significant amount of debt. The company lost $4.53 billion in the latest three months, including a $3.8 billion charge on a decrease...

New Poll: (Pew Research) Obama 46% McCain 43% (Mac closes gap over last 2 Pew polls)

The turnaround maven should have seen the problems ahead in the newspaper industry. His blind side may have cost Tribune Co. its very life "It's the deal from hell," says Sam Zell, never one to mince words. "And it will continue to be the deal from hell until we turn it around." Zell is talking, of course, about his $8.5 billion purchase of Tribune Co. in December 2007, a tran­saction that's shaping up to be one of the most disastrous the media world has ever seen. Zell is a real estate tycoon, and his plush office reflects his decades of...

Real estate mogul Sam Zell, who took control of media giant Tribune Co. about six months ago, defended yesterday the staffing and page cuts under way at The Sun and its other newspapers as necessary in the worst advertising climate in decades. In a conference call with Tribune Co. reporters, Zell said reducing staff by as much as 25 percent in some newsrooms and shrinking and redesigning the company's newspapers were the only options to ensure short-term survival and to allow a longer-term reinvention of the American newspaper. "We're looking at some of the worst advertising numbers in the history...

Los Angeles Times Publisher David Hiller resigned today after a 21-month tenure that included the departure of two Times editors and plans for the sharpest staff and production cuts in the newspaper's history amid a continuing slide in advertising revenue. Tribune Co. -- which owns The Times and other media assets, including the Chicago Tribune and KTLA-TV Channel 5, and the Chicago Cubs baseball team -- named no successor to Hiller. Hiller was the third Times publisher named since the newspaper was acquired in 2000 by Chicago-based Tribune. He succeeded Jeffrey M. Johnson, who lost his job after publicly resisting...

The Chicago Tribune began informing staff Tuesday it will eliminate around 80 of its current 578 newsroom positions by the end of August and reduce the number of pages it publishes by 13 percent to 14 percent each week. There also will be a reduction of jobs in other Chicago Tribune departments, but that number was not immediately available. A paper spokesman declined comment. Because some newsroom jobs have been left unfilled in recent months, the actual number of staffers to exit the paper is expected to be between 55 and 58. "Like many newspapers, we're feeling financial pressures," Hanke...

On the heels of announcing steep layoffs at the Los Angeles Times, Tribune Co. said Thursday it had arranged a $300 million bank loan with Barclays Bank, most of which would be used to pay off part of an existing loan. The Barclays transaction was described as an “asset-backed commercial paper facility,” meaning it’s backed by accounts receivable money that Tribune is owed. The arrangement with Barclays allows Tribune to get a cash infusion pronto without having to wait for those bills to come due. Still, it’s a sign of the cash crunch at the debt-laden Chicago-based newspaper and TV...

Date/Time: 6/25/2008 3:20:34 PM Title: Baltimore Sun announces downsizing plans Posted By: Jim Romenesko Memo from Baltimore Sun publisher Tim Ryan Sent: 6/25/2008 3:00 PM Subject: Organizational Update Dear Employees / Owners, The two key factors that will sustain our company for the future are customer satisfaction and financial stability. Achieving both goals is challenging in the very best of market conditions. In the face of today’s tough economy, adapting to consumer trends while maintaining our fiscal strength is proving to be even more difficult – yet even more critical. Our long-term strategy of going on offense and creating growth...

Tribune Tower is in play. Tribune Co. Chairman Sam Zell told staff today the company is in discussions with "a number of real estate firms" to determine how to generate the most value from the neo-Gothic Michigan Avenue home of the flagship Chicago Tribune, an iconic bookend of the city's Magnificent Mile. The company is also weighing its strategic options concerning the Los Angeles Times' downtown Times Mirror Square complex, another high-profile real estate asset. "When we started this adventure together, I made a point of saying we would challenge traditional thinking, that there would be no sacred cows, and...

The Orlando Sentinel landed on newsstands Sunday with a new layout featuring more graphics, quick-read digests of top news, blog summaries and other changes aimed at making the newspaper more appealing to harried readers. Orlando is a proving ground for Sam Zell's effort to reinvent floundering Tribune Co., owner of a string of television stations and newspapers, including the Sentinel, the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times. Between now and the end of September, Tribune plans to roll out redesigns at its papers. Accompanying the makeovers will be scaled-back page counts and further paring of employees. snip It remains...

The editor of the Chicago Tribune issued a memo Thursday to prepare her reporters and editors for drastic changes in content and painful reductions in staff. The memo from Editor Ann Marie Lipinski set out timetables for decisions leading to a "rethought and redesigned" Tribune promised in mid-September. Internal committees, she said, will evaluate which editorial matter to keep as the paper downsizes and, by mid-August, will recommend staffing levels. The paper is carrying out a directive from Tribune Co. owner Sam Zell to reduce costs. Declining revenues threaten Zell's ability to pay debt he took on for his leveraged...

Tribune Company newspapers like The Los Angeles Times and The Chicago Tribune will quickly cut costs — by printing fewer papers and employing fewer journalists — top company executives said on Thursday. Samuel Zell, the chairman and chief executive of Tribune, and Randy Michaels, the company’s chief operating officer, revealed the cuts during a conference call with Wall Street analysts. They also said the struggling company has looked at the column inches of news produced by each reporter, and by each paper’s news staff. Finding wide variation, they said, they have concluded that it could do without a large number...

Date/Time: 6/5/2008 4:50:07 PM Title: Sam Zell and Randy Michaels memo Posted By: Jim Romenesko Memo to Tribune employees Partners, Instead of recapping our first quarter numbers, which you can see in our news release online, we want to get to the heart of what we’re sure all of you are focused on after our earnings call today – our discussion around the changing business model for publishing. What has become clear as we have gotten intimately familiar with the business is that the model for newspapers no longer works. Supply and demand are not in balance, and that manifests...

The Chicago Tribune, which once employed Barack Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod, is refusing to publish the truth about a Weather Underground terrorist bombing that killed a policeman. The paper apparently does not want to tarnish the image of Obama friends Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, who were allegedly part of or had direct knowledge of the bombing plot that also injured several other police officers. The Tribune considers Ayers an education expert and has published various articles by him. Please help Accuracy in Media expose the Tribune's cover-up. I sent a copy of the following email message to Tribune...

A continued weak advertising environment resulted in an 8% decline in first-quarter operating revenue and a 16% drop in operating cash flow for Tribune Co., parent of the Los Angeles Times, KTLA-TV Channel 5, the Chicago Tribune and other media holdings. However, because of Tribune's conversion to a tax-advantaged, employee-owned company in December, it posted a one-time, $1.86-billion income tax adjustment that resulted in net income of $1.82 billion for the quarter that ended March 31, compared with $11 million in the same 2007 period. Quarterly operating revenue was $1.11 billion, compared with $1.21 billion a year earlier, and operating...

Since taking control of the Tribune Company in December, Sam Zell has drawn a lot of attention in journalism circles for speeches laced with profanity, political incorrectness, insults and self-deprecating humor. But all the twittering and tut-tutting over Mr. Zell’s remarks — and his suggestions that some reporting jobs are not needed — masks a more serious concern. With the newspaper industry going through an unexpectedly sharp contraction, Tribune is struggling under $12.8 billion in debt, and its financial condition has deteriorated, creating what specialists say is a very real risk of credit default in the next year or so....

Tribune Co is at risk of defaulting on its debt in as little as 18 months if the newspaper business deteriorates further, and it fails to unload more properties. By some estimates, Tribune could fetch $1.6 billion for the Newsday daily paper and the Chicago Cubs baseball team and related properties, the assets it has already put on the block. Newsday has already attracted interest from News Corp's (NWSa.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Rupert Murdoch and New York Daily News owner Mortimer Zuckerman. Still, Tribune has nearly $4 billion in debt and interest payments due by the end of 2009, according...