Sam Zell

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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.  read more »

A Newsday insider tells Media Mob that a reporter who received a new BlackBerry from the paper today had a special gift inside: a saved picture of a smiling Sam Zell saved on it. Another Newsday reporter said that a lot of the reporting staff is expecting to get new BlackBerry curves to replace "the crappy LGs we all had before." Expect a cute picture of your wrinkly boss waiting for you.

On Long Island, Newsday reporters and editors are listening to Sam Zell speak to a packed auditorium--so packed that lots of Newsday folks are spilling over into a sideroom to watch a live telecast of the event. According to a person inside the room--who is BlackBerrying Media Mob with updates--Mr. Zell is wearing a striped button-down shirt without a tie.  read more »

Sam Zell is taking a New York tour today, and it concludes in Melville where he's taking a tour of Newsday offices. At 3:30 this afternoon, Mr. Zell will conduct a "Town Hall" meeting with reporters and editors in the Pinelawn auditorium. Randy Michaels, Mr. Zell's partner, will be by his side and the meeting is schedule to last two hours.

Here is his entire schedule today, as given to Media Mob by a Newsday insider:

9-10:00am: amNew York

10:30-11:30: WPIX

12:00-1:00 2 Park Avenue

3:30-5:30: Newsday  read more »

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Tomorrow shareholders in the Tribune Company meet to approve an $8.2 billion deal to sell the company--publishers of The Los Angeles Times, Newsday and The Chicago Tribune--to billionaire real-estate developer Sam Zell.

Or do they? The New York Times this morning examines whether the precipitous slump in the newspaper industry (even since the Zell deal was announced in April) might be enough to kill the deal.  read more »

While the Rudy filing may lack donations from the blockbuster Hollywood-type stars that one might find giving to a Democrat like Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, there are a number of names that are, for various reasons, worth noting.  read more »

Billionaire real estate mogul Sam Zell swooped late into the bidding for Tribune Co., and has now beat out the unlikely pairing of Ron Burkle and Eli Broad, according to today's press release.

It looks like the Wall Street Journal got the story first, breaking it online, with the Tribune itself, and others close behind.

And since it broke before 6 a.m. on the west coast, we'll let's the Los Angeles Times James Rainey off the hook. Sure he'll have something soon, though.

The New Yorker's Ken Auletta began this morning's all-star media panel, held at the W Hotel in midtown, with a question for McClatchy CEO Gary Pruitt.

Would he have fired Dean Baquet from the Los Angeles Times?

"I doubt it," he responded, "but I have no idea."

Laughter ensued, not simply because of the query, legitimate in light of Baquet's fallout with L.A. Times parent, the Tribune Company. It had more to do with Mr. Baquet, now New York Times D.C. bureau chief, being flanked by the two men.

All three were on stage, for roughly 90 minutes, to discuss the fate of the newspaper industry, the latest gathering of Syracuse University's Newhouse School in New York.

Unsurprisingly, Si was sitting right up front.  read more »

Media machers filled the ballroom for the 8 a.m. breakfast, including the New Yorker's David Remnick, Time Warner chief Dick Parksons, and the Ingrassia brothers, Larry and Paul, representing the N.Y. Times and Wall Street Journal, respectively. There was a gaggle of media reporters, as well as other notables like former New York Mayor (and New York Press columnist!) Ed Koch.