The Tribune Company will celebrate the Cub's second century of losing... by declaring bankruptcy. (Story link to Washington Post)About time.
Tribune could have been bigger and better than Time Warner.
However upper management was feared and hated in the ranks, and they ran the place like a small market newspaper that owned a couple TV stations. No one is even aware of an org chart in that place.
Then here comes Zell! Zell came in to make it private - the fools working there welcomed him with open arms! That is, until he pulled his axe out and started trimming all the fat in every department. The staff was shocked -shocked!- that their new pal Zell was cutting people and departments! How dare he!?
On top of it, Zell found a way to dumb down the Chicago Tribune! Quite a task. Even the USA Today blushes at the new coloring book format.
I hope they're not able to re-org and they just go away like Pan Am...
From the company's letter to advertisers:
ReplyDelete8. Why should advertising clients continue advertising with Tribune?
Tribune is not going out of business. In fact, the company took this step to take control of its business and ensure it’s viable for many years to come. The company’s brands remain strong—we’re still publishing our newspapers and operating our TV stations and websites. Tribune values its relationships with advertisers and looks forward to continuing to work with them.
9. How long will the reorganization process take?
This process can last varying amounts of time.
Okay! And to employees, Zell says: just keep on working:
By restructuring our debt, we will reduce the pressure on the company’s operating businesses, enabling us to pursue our vision of creating a sustainable, cutting-edge media company that is valued by our readers, viewers, and advertisers, and that plays a vital role in the communities we serve. This filing should not impact the way you do your jobs on a day-to-day basis.
Until they are gone.
I first started reading the ChiTrib a few months ago. I was under the impression that it is (was?) one of the best newspapers in the country. I was shocked at how many mistakes I found, how poorly written it was, and the lack of focus & details most of its articles had. It felt like a small-town newspaper. I stopped buying it after I found 5 grammatical errors/typos in one section one day.
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