Sam Zell to L.A. Times: Watch Porn at Your Desk, But Don't Piss All Over the Office!
Tribune chief Sam Zell had a meeting with the staff of The Los Angeles Times today that was so wildly entertaining it puts to shame the one he held at Newsday two weeks ago. Among other things discussed— his willingness to take a 50-cent salary!—he blasted outgoing editor Jim O'Shea, according to a newsroom source present.
Mr. Zell said this morning that Mr. O'Shea "pissed all over the company where he worked for over 30 years," and that he embarrassed the company.
"He really trashed him," our source said. "He said it was just unacceptable for him to humiliate me and humiliate this company and asked why he shit all over the place. He said that we have enough trouble as it is and it was a really, really bad way to go."
According to two L.A. Times sources, a lot of people at the paper felt the same way. "Someone, that being S.Z., finally called bullshit on Jim O'Shea," said a newsroom source. At the meeting there was a "lot of laugther and a lot of clapping. A lot of good energy."
In response to a question, Mr. Zell also talked about the importance of adding more local stories to the front page. When discussing newsroom decorum, he told reporters that if they want to watch porn all day at their desk then go for it! As long as they're productive. He added, with a smile, "Let me know if you find any good sites."
RE: TRIBUNE COMPANY or ANY COMPANY Employees
Remember Achilles?
His Mom presented a Catch 22:
(A) Go home and lead a nice long, normal life.
(B) Go to battle, die in valor and become immortalized.
If You chose (A), You're so Pre-Zell, traditional F500 managerial type.
If the latter was your alternative, you may thrive in the Post-Zell realm where ResultsMatter.
The choice, albiet hobbesian, is all yours, @#*%ers!
The majority of Us work within Structures where mediocre bureaucrats are rewarded the top rungs of the ladder for spending an inordinate amount of time/effort to working the system. Certainly no risk taking, let alone questioning authority. Therefore to paraphrase Thoreau, The mass of men... quiet desperation.
In that respect, this may be an issue of What's Wrong with CorporateAmerica, in general, rather than Tribune Co in particular.
Question is, Is the ZellVaccine potent enough to materially dissolve a long imbedded origanizational RedTape?
#$@& if I know!
Of course, TheTestOfTime, does...
Wow! A very deep comment Don Yahn, but what does it have with me not wanting to pick up a newspaper that doesn't report facts, but rather left-wing opinions?
Zell's right. Keep the focus local and quit editorializing on what Bush did or didn't do or the latest adventures of Code Pink in Berkeley.
Our local Chicagoland suburban newspaper is now thicker and richer in content than the mortally wounded Chicago Sun-Times, the "other" Chicago metro paper.
Why? Because the suburban newspaper concentrates on the local scene, i.e., restaurants, interesting local characters, local events, high school sports, school district issues...the kind of stuff that never makes the big newspapers.
They don't run endorsements of national political figures, they don't trash talk Republicans or Democrats. They simply keep their audience aware of what's going on in their community.
Anon:
Great comments. Journalism should very much so focus on restaraunts rather than current events! Brilliant!
And you do know that teh Sun-Times is owned by teh same company that owns Fox News, right?
The Chicago Sun-Times are currently owned by Sun-Times Media Group, which also owns a bunch of suburban papers. As of Feb 4, it is currently up for sale. Boston-based K Capital Management, the company's largest shareholder with a nearly 10 percent stake and the most vocal advocate of a sale, applauded the announcement.
Hollinger, the parent company, which was controlled by Conrad Black is who is offering the paper for sale.
Black was ousted as chief executive and chairman of the company in 2003, and sentenced to six and half years in prison for fraud and obstruction of justice last year.
Rupert Murdoch owned the paper back in 1984 but sold it to Hollinger so he could buy WFLD in Chicago, which helped him launch the Fox News Network.
Well, Zell's antics are no doubt refreshing in the newspaper business which has become the dumping ground for the handicapped and the homosexual, the unproductive and the risk averse manager, the conniving jouralist and the editor that suffers from too many masters degees and not enough time on the police beat. But turning a daily newspaper into a suburban ad fetcher somehow is not the answer either. If it was, Zell would have bought that business instead.
Today we learn Zell's found a $300 million honeypot in the Tribune's pension fund ("over funded" - as though there could ever be such a thing). Perhaps now we know why he bought the company.
On a totally seperate subject I just wanted to say Fuck You Republicans, Stop fucking up the world for a buck. Greedy fascists go eat the plastic that you manufacture.
On a totally seperate subject I just wanted to say Fuck You Republicans, Stop fucking up the world for a buck. Greedy fascists go eat the plastic that you manufacture.