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Russ Stanton, a 10-year veteran of the Los Angeles Times who has been in charge of invigorating its website, on Thursday became the newspaper's 14th editor. Stanton will lead a staff chafing from the recent exit of its third editor in less than three years and worried about job cuts. Former Editor James O'Shea and Publisher David D. Hiller parted ways Jan. 21 after a disagreement over whether the editorial budget should shrink. The 49-year-old Stanton referred to "the high turnover rate in this job" in remarks he delivered in the paper's third-floor newsroom in downtown Los Angeles. "Like most...

Tribune Co. plans to cut 400 to 500 jobs companywide, including about 100 each at the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times, the company announced Wednesday. The cuts, which amount to about 2 percent of the Chicago-based media company's workforce, are a necessary response to a weak economy and "significant declines in advertising volume at our newspapers," Tribune Company Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sam Zell said in a memo to employees. "Unfortunately, I can't turn this ship from its course of the past 10 years within just a few months," said Zell, who took the company private in an...

<p>The streamlining of Tribune Co. corporate operations that billionaire Sam Zell promised when he assumed control in December has begun with a string of layoffs this week.</p> <p>Around a dozen employees in the Chicago-based media concern's human resources department were informed their positions at Tribune Tower are being eliminated, according to sources.</p>

Topic: Memos Sent to Romenesko Date/Time: 1/22/2008 1:02:54 PM Title: Zell removes the Internet filters Posted By: Jim Romenesko Memo to Tribune employees from Sam Zell From: Talk to Sam Sent: Tue 1/22/2008 11:03 AM Subject: Censorship, the First Amendment and the Fourth Estate Everyone, I learned on the first leg of our tour of Tribune's business units that some of them were filtering Internet content. I do not see how a member of the Fourth Estate, dedicated to protecting the First Amendment, can censor what its own employees and partners can see. I have instructed that all content filters...

Chicago (AP) -- Real estate magnate Sam Zell took control of newly private Tribune Co. on Thursday and began shaking up the newspaper and TV company the moment the $8.2 billion buyout he led closed, reshuffling the board, naming two top executives and promising more action ahead. Taking on the CEO's role as well as chairman, Zell made clear he won't hesitate to make sweeping changes at the media conglomerate even though he has no previous experience in the industry. He signaled he has no immediate asset sales in mind at the company that owns 23 television stations and nine...

Tribune Co. executives were sweating out aggressive last-minute questioning Tuesday from bankers reluctant to fund the final portion of a debt-laden $8.2 billion deal to take the company private with Chicago billionaire Sam Zell, sources close to the company said. The Chicago-based media giant was still hoping to finalize its transaction by Thursday, but sources said the banks, worried about losing money on the deal in skittish credit markets, were scouring company records before committing to fund the transaction. snip It was unclear what information the bankers were seeking. But the dilemma they face is that with the credit markets...

Like most American newspapers, the Chicago Tribune has been reducing the space for news in its print edition. But unlike most papers, it plans to charge more for less. The Tribune, flagship newspaper of Tribune Co., said Monday it will increase the newsstand price to 75 cents from 50 cents. The increase will apply to the Monday through Saturday editions. It comes as billionaire Sam Zell completes an $8.2 billion buyout of the company. Zell, struggling with declining revenue from advertising and circulation, structured a buyout built on nearly $8 billion in new debt for the company. The price hike...

Tribune Nov. Revenue Falls Due to Ongoing Drop in Real Estate Classified Ad Sales CHICAGO (AP) -- Tribune Co. said Wednesday that revenue dipped 3.3 percent in November as classified ad sales continued to weigh on the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher because of significant real estate declines. The company, which is being bought out in a deal led by real estate mogul Sam Zell, said consolidated revenue declined to $413 million from $428 million a year ago. Publishing sales fell 3.5 percent to $309 million from $321 million, as ad revenue slipped 4.9 percent to $244 million from $257 million....

Deal Journal has covered literally hundreds of mergers and acquisitions. We can’t recall one that was publicly contingent on the receipt of a solvency opinion. There is one now. Sam Zell’s planned buyout of Tribune Co. The requirement gives us some pause on the same day that Tribune’s shares are up nearly $2.25 a share to $31.92, inching ever closer to the $34-a-share takeover price offered in Zell’s exotic employee-stock ownership takeover plan. Solvency opinions are typically used in highly-levered financial transactions, to test — surprise — a company’s ongoing solvency. They are designed as a legal protection for board...

Relief was palpable in Tribune Tower on Friday. Clear victories, after all, have been few in Tribune Co.'s long, star-crossed struggle to restructure itself amid the worst financial crisis the newspaper industry has ever faced. But even as the Federal Communications Commission granted exemptions Friday that should allow real estate magnate Sam Zell to finally close his $8.2 billion deal to take the Chicago-based media conglomerate private, sources close to Tribune acknowledged that closing the transaction may prove to be the easy part. With indications that the economy is teetering on the brink of recession and several of Tribune's key...

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Tribune Company (TRB) on Tuesday said October revenue fell 9.3% to $383 million. Publishing revenue dipped 7.9% to $287 million. Advertising revenues decreased 10.6 percent to $222 million. Circulation revenue dropped 6.3% to single-copy declines and continued selective discounting in home delivery. Broadcasting and entertainment group revenues in October were $96 million, down 13.3%.

CHICAGO (AP) -- Media conglomerate Tribune Co. said Wednesday its third-quarter earnings dropped 7 percent as the housing slump and lower consumer spending worsened an ongoing decline in advertising revenue from its newspapers. The reduced profit and a 4 percent drop in revenue still exceeded analysts' expectations, and Tribune's slumping stock rose. Despite skepticism on Wall Street, Chief Executive Dennis FitzSimons said the transaction under which Tribune is going private remains on track to close in the fourth quarter. Tribune is still waiting for the Federal Communications Commission to grant it waivers from rules banning same-market ownership of television and...

Prove your kids are yours Kevin Roderick The Tribune Company has come up with a new tactic to cut costs and annoy the hell out of its employees — again. It seems that everyone on the staff at the L.A. Times (and so I assume KTLA) has to prove that their spouses and children really are theirs, and thus eligible for medical benefits. Though wasteful and mildly insulting it sounds easy enough, but apparently it's not. They call it a "Mercer Audit" and its demands have some staffers in an uproar. Some email exchanges follow after the jump, starting with...

NEW YORK, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Tribune Co (TRB.N: Quote, Profile, Research), which is going private in an $8.2 billion deal, said on Thursday that revenue fell in August because of a drop in publishing and advertising sales at its newspapers. Revenue fell 5.2 percent from a year earlier to $391 million. Publishing revenue fell to 6.1 percent to $271 million, while ad revenue fell 7.2 percent to $210 million. Retail ad revenue rose nearly 1 percent, and national ad revenue rose 2.8 percent, but classified ad revenue dropped 20.1 percent, partially due to a drop in real estate classified...

Publishing Advertising Revenues Decline 10.3%; Television Revenues Down 3.7% CHICAGO, Aug. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Tribune Company (NYSE: TRB - News) today reported its summary of revenues and newspaper advertising volume for period 7, ended Aug. 5, 2007. Consolidated revenues for the period were $467 million, down 5.9 percent from last year's $496 million. Publishing revenues in July were $319 million compared with $349 million last year, down 8.6 percent. Advertising revenues decreased 10.3 percent to $247 million, compared with $275 million in July 2006. -- Retail advertising revenues decreased 6.0 percent with the largest declines in the department stores and...

When Tribune Company shareholders gather tomorrow in Chicago to approve an $8.2 billion plan to take the company private, an uncomfortable question is sure to be on many of their minds: Will this deal fall apart? The people involved say no, but the market seems to have its doubts. A lot has changed since April 2, when Tribune and Sam Zell, the real estate billionaire, announced the complex takeover. What looked then like a moderate slump in stock prices in the newspaper industry has turned into something worse, with Tribune suffering more than most, and the credit markets the company...

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Shares of Tribune Co. (TRB : Tribune Company News , chart , profile , more Last: 24.57-1.20-4.66% 1:13pm 08/14/2007 Delayed quote data Add to portfolio Analyst Create alert Insider Discuss Financials Sponsored by: TRB24.57, -1.20, -4.7% ) dropped another 3.5% in midday trading Tuesday as concerns mounted that a dismal ad revenue situation might thwart the deal to take the newspaper giant private. Shares fell 90 cents to $24.87 in recent action, now putting the company's shares at nearly $10 a share below the planned sale price of Tribune. Real estate mogul Sam Zell is supposed...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Tribune Co., the parent company of the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and Chicago Cubs, said Wednesday its second-quarter earnings fell nearly 59 percent on continued slumping advertising revenues. Earnings after paying preferred dividends for the quarter were $36.3 million, or 18 cents per share, compared to $85.7 million, or 28 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. Earnings include a charge of 8 cents per share related to 450 job cuts across publishing and corporate operations, and a charge of 7 cents per share for the write-off of Los Angeles Times plant equipment related to...

NEW YORK Billionaire real estate investor Sam Zell was viewed as a savior in some quarters last spring when he swooped in to orchestrate an $8.2 billion buyout offer for Tribune Co. amid tepid interest for the ailing newspaper publisher. Now the industry's accelerating decline has some Wall Street experts wondering whether the deal for the parent company of the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and Chicago Cubs could fall apart. And even if it goes through, the employee stock ownership plan that will own most of the company could face a debt burden even more onerous than the one...

CHICAGO The Chicago Tribune will run ads on its front page and some section fronts, Tribune Publishing President Scott C. Smith said Monday in a memo to employees. The paper will begin selling the ad positions this week for "premium prices for brand and image advertising to key clients," Smith wrote to staffers. The color ads will be be 1.5 inches deep and run across the bottom of the section fronts. "This is a common ad size across the industry and will be common across Tribune newspapers to attract more business from national advertisers," Smith wrote. "They will also be...