Andy Martin tells Sam Zell that Zell can’t cut newspaper quality and expect to maintain monopoly profits. Martin says Zell is running a “Tony Soprano-style” organization based on the failed Clear Channel Communications model.
ANDY MARTIN
Executive Editor
ContrarianCommentary.com
“Factually Correct, Not
Politically Correct”
AMERICA’S #1 POLITICAL
BLOG ON THE 2008 CAMPAIGN
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
ATTENTION DAYBOOK/ASSIGNMENT EDITORS
ANNOUNCEMENT OF CHICAGO NEWS CONFERENCE JULY 12, 2008
ANDY MARTIN DELIVERS “FREE LUNCH” PACKAGE TO THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE NEWSROOM
INTERNET COLUMNIST/PERFORMANCE ARTIST MARTIN SAYS “WE CAN’T LET SAM ZELL STARVE HIS EMPLOYEES INTO SUBMISSION”
ANDY COMES TO THE TRIBUNE COMPANY’S RESCUE WITH ANOTHER CARE PACKAGE FOR EMBATTLED AND EMBITTERED TRIBUNE STAFFERS
IS ZELL BANKRUPTING AN AMERICAN INSTITUTION?
(CHICAGO)(July 12, 2008) Andy Martin will come to the rescue of the embattled and embittered Chicago Tribune newsroom with a “free lunch” on Saturday. This is Andy’s second “care package” to the suffering Tribune staff.
“Friday’s (July 11th) paper was obese with ads. And Zell wants to add more advertising? Does this man’s greed have no limits? Zell wants to cheapen the Tribune Company product but charge the same price. Is he a genius, or what?
“Zell seemingly wants to run a mafia-style ‘bust-out’ instead of a genuine newspaper/TV/communications company. He’ll sell everything off as he destroys the company. This is Sam Zell’s Tony Soprano version of ‘journalism.’
“The Tribune Tower? Peddle that. Put the employees in a sweltering strip mall.
“Markets fluctuate and the economy certainly fluctuates. Zell wants to use the recession to destroy the Tribune Company’s newspapers. He has begun by cutting the L. A. Times to the bone, and by introducing mind-numbing measurement statistics, as well an asinine orientation on human/animal sex. I am sure Zell could temporarily trump up more interest if he put space ‘aliens’ on the front page. But how long would that trick last?
“The fact that Mr. Zell is an ignoramus, or that he feels his success squeezing higher rents out of old ladies in trailer parks entitles him to be a management guru, is not the issue. Even stupid people are often smart enough to hire experienced employees. Zell wants to chase experienced people out the door, cut the newsroom staff to barely above national Enquirer levels, and then ramp up profits. It won’t happen.
“The Clear Channel Communications model Zell is using destroyed the radio industry, shafted stockholders, and left behind a company no one wanted. They had to file a lawsuit to get someone to buy Clear Channel.
“Newspapers undoubtedly face a difficult economic environment. But instead of dismantling news organization, I believe that keeping these operations intact is a far better long-term strategy. Newspapers are never going to return monopoly profits again. But if you look at Friday’s Tribune, fat as it is with ads and special sections, the print media can still be very profitable. It is greed that gets you in trouble. And Zell’s ego makes him greedy.
“Can you cover the growing Los Angeles market with half the reporters the former owners used? Can you cover the growing Chicago area with half the reporters the Tribune had? Orlando, Florida with half the reporters? That’s where Zell is heading.
“Cutting is easy; destroying is easy. Building is hard. Zell is a destroyer, not a builder. If you follow Zell’s reasoning, he should fire all his newsroom staff and let a computer assemble the paper ‘Google News’-style. But that would not be a newspaper anyone would pay to read. So you can’t cut your product to boost profitability. Worse, no one would advertise in a McZell paper produced by automatons.
“Zell is not going to save the Tribune Company. He will sell off parts-–some of them unrelated to communications such as the Chicago Clubs, and thus justifiably saleable—and continue to shrink his news staff and dilute the quality of his remaining product. Will he attract new readers with a cheaper product? Oy, vey, Sammy. Even young internet-focused readers will see a pig-in-a-poke when you water down the Tribune and the other company newspapers.
“Ultimately, Zell has overleveraged, and he may have to file for Chapter 11. He will end up having an ego trip and destroying the value created over a hundred years. The employees? They get wiped out, United Airlines-style. ESOPS? A legalized scam to steal from employees. It’s all very sad for American journalism, “Martin will state. “Zell will end up in bankruptcy or liquidation. Thirteen billion dollars is too much debt.
After his news conference Martin will deliver a “free lunch” to the embattled Tribune newsroom. “It’s the least I can do,” says Andy. “There are a lot of good writers and fine journalists at the Tribune. I feel for them being abused by a jerk such as Zell. My conscience will not let me stand by in silence as Zell hacks away at a great newspaper company. We are witnessing a tragedy in the making.”
SUNDAY: Andy Martin offers Sam Zell a cost-saving measure.
NEWS CONFERENCE DETAILS:
WHO: Internet Columnist/media critic/artist Andy Martin
WHERE: Public sidewalk, 435 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago
WHEN: Saturday July 12, 12:00 P. M. (noon)
MEDIA CONTACT: (866) 706-2639
WEBSITE: SaveTheTribune.blogspot.com
E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com
---------------------------------------------------------
Andy Martin is a legendary Chicago muckraker, media critic, author, Internet columnist, radio talk show host and broadcaster. Andy is the Executive Editor and publisher of www.ContrarianCommentary.com. © Copyright by Andy Martin 2008. Martin covers regional, national and world events with over forty years of experience. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. Columns are also posted at ContrarianCommentary.blogspot.com; contrariancommentary.wordpress.com. Andy is the author of Obama: The Man Behind The Mask, being published in July 2008, see http://www.OrangeStatePress.com. MEDIA CONTACT: (866) 706-2639 E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com [NOTE: We frequently correct typographical errors and additions/subtractions on our blogs, where you can find the latest edition of this release.]
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Andy Martin delivers “care package” to the Chicago Tribune newsroom
Martin says Zell is trying to humiliate and degrade Tribune employees by treating them with the same cheap attitude that he apparently learned at home. Andy points out that Zell owes his employees strict fiduciary duties under the ESOP plan that financed his Tribune acquisition.
ANDY MARTIN
Executive Editor
ContrarianCommentary.com
“Factually Correct, Not
Politically Correct”
AMERICA’S #1 POLITICAL
BLOG ON THE 2008 CAMPAIGN
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
ATTENTION DAYBOOK/ASSIGNMENT EDITORS
ANNOUNCEMENT OF CHICAGO NEWS CONFERENCE JULY 9, 2008
ANDY MARTIN DELIVERS “CARE PACKAGE TO THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE NEWSROOM
INTERNET COLUMNIST/PERFORMANCE ARTIST MARTIN SAYS “HOW CAN THEY PUT OUT A NEWSPAPER WITHOUT PENS AND PAPER TO TAKE NOTES, POST-IT NOTES, AND ALL THE PARAPHERNALIA OF A MODERN OFFICE ENVIRONMENT?”
ANDY COMES TO THE TRIBUNE COMPANY’S RESCUE WITH STATIONARY SUPPLIES FOR THE CASH-CHALLENGED MEDIA EMPIRE
COLONEL MCCORMICK WOULD BE PROUD
MARTIN ALSO OFFERS THE TRIBUNE FREQUENT FLYER MILES FOR TRAVEL
(CHICAGO)(July 9, 2008) Andy Martin will come to the rescue of the embattled and embittered Chicago Tribune newsroom Wednesday, with a “care package” of paper, paper clips, pads and pens.
“It broke my heart to read that Tribune employees were being told to count papers clips and economize on post-it notes and who knows what else?” says Martin. “Colonel McCormick must be turning in his grave. Not to worry. I am coming to the rescue. To use the Democrats’ old phrase, ‘Help is on the way.’
“Wednesday at 4:00 P.M. I am going to deliver a ‘care package’ of stationary supplies to the Tribune newsroom. If billionaire Sam Zell, who is busy filing frivolous lawsuits against San Diego County, California, can’t afford to provide office supplies for his employees, I will. They have a word for people like Zell: ‘cheap.’ What is Zell going to do next? Lower the lighting level as an ‘energy conservation’ measure?
“I am also advising Mr. Zell that I will make 50,000 of my frequent flyer miles available to Tribune employees, so they can travel to news events. I’ll even throw in a couple of extra bucks for drinks. What good is a reporter on the road without a little distilled lubricant?
“Sam Zell has been a greedy cheapskate all his life, and he is trying to make more money by trying to put up the rent on helpless old ladies who live in trailer parks. Maybe that’s the way Zell was brought up by his parents. I couldn’t sleep at night if I made my billions that way. Now Zell is exporting his stingy tactics to the Tribune Company.
“Well, I have ‘news’ for Mr. Zell. Quality is not cheap. And highly motivated professionals cannot work for peanuts. Zell is trying to convert the Tribune Company’s newspapers across the United States into what we Floridians call ‘mullet wrappers,’” says Martin, “into the Chicago Tribune Supermarket Circular.”
NEWS CONFERENCE DETAILS:
WHO: Internet Columnist/media critic/artist Andy Martin
WHERE: Public sidewalk, 435 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago
WHEN: Wednesday, July 9, 4:00 P. M.
MEDIA CONTACT: (866) 706-2639
WEBSITE: SaveTheTribune.blogspot.com
E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com
[THURSDAY/FRIDAY NEWS CONFERENCES TO BE ANNOUNCED]
---------------------------------------------------------
Andy Martin is a legendary Chicago muckraker, media critic, author, Internet columnist, radio talk show host and broadcaster. Andy is the Executive Editor and publisher of www.ContrarianCommentary.com. © Copyright by Andy Martin 2008. Martin covers regional, national and world events with over forty years of experience. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. Columns are also posted at ContrarianCommentary.blogspot.com; contrariancommentary.wordpress.com. Andy is the author of Obama: The Man Behind The Mask, being published in July 2008, see http://www.OrangeStatePress.com. MEDIA CONTACT: (866) 706-2639 E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com [NOTE: We frequently correct typographical errors and additions/subtractions on our blogs, where you can find the latest edition of this release.]
ANDY MARTIN
Executive Editor
ContrarianCommentary.com
“Factually Correct, Not
Politically Correct”
AMERICA’S #1 POLITICAL
BLOG ON THE 2008 CAMPAIGN
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
ATTENTION DAYBOOK/ASSIGNMENT EDITORS
ANNOUNCEMENT OF CHICAGO NEWS CONFERENCE JULY 9, 2008
ANDY MARTIN DELIVERS “CARE PACKAGE TO THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE NEWSROOM
INTERNET COLUMNIST/PERFORMANCE ARTIST MARTIN SAYS “HOW CAN THEY PUT OUT A NEWSPAPER WITHOUT PENS AND PAPER TO TAKE NOTES, POST-IT NOTES, AND ALL THE PARAPHERNALIA OF A MODERN OFFICE ENVIRONMENT?”
ANDY COMES TO THE TRIBUNE COMPANY’S RESCUE WITH STATIONARY SUPPLIES FOR THE CASH-CHALLENGED MEDIA EMPIRE
COLONEL MCCORMICK WOULD BE PROUD
MARTIN ALSO OFFERS THE TRIBUNE FREQUENT FLYER MILES FOR TRAVEL
(CHICAGO)(July 9, 2008) Andy Martin will come to the rescue of the embattled and embittered Chicago Tribune newsroom Wednesday, with a “care package” of paper, paper clips, pads and pens.
“It broke my heart to read that Tribune employees were being told to count papers clips and economize on post-it notes and who knows what else?” says Martin. “Colonel McCormick must be turning in his grave. Not to worry. I am coming to the rescue. To use the Democrats’ old phrase, ‘Help is on the way.’
“Wednesday at 4:00 P.M. I am going to deliver a ‘care package’ of stationary supplies to the Tribune newsroom. If billionaire Sam Zell, who is busy filing frivolous lawsuits against San Diego County, California, can’t afford to provide office supplies for his employees, I will. They have a word for people like Zell: ‘cheap.’ What is Zell going to do next? Lower the lighting level as an ‘energy conservation’ measure?
“I am also advising Mr. Zell that I will make 50,000 of my frequent flyer miles available to Tribune employees, so they can travel to news events. I’ll even throw in a couple of extra bucks for drinks. What good is a reporter on the road without a little distilled lubricant?
“Sam Zell has been a greedy cheapskate all his life, and he is trying to make more money by trying to put up the rent on helpless old ladies who live in trailer parks. Maybe that’s the way Zell was brought up by his parents. I couldn’t sleep at night if I made my billions that way. Now Zell is exporting his stingy tactics to the Tribune Company.
“Well, I have ‘news’ for Mr. Zell. Quality is not cheap. And highly motivated professionals cannot work for peanuts. Zell is trying to convert the Tribune Company’s newspapers across the United States into what we Floridians call ‘mullet wrappers,’” says Martin, “into the Chicago Tribune Supermarket Circular.”
NEWS CONFERENCE DETAILS:
WHO: Internet Columnist/media critic/artist Andy Martin
WHERE: Public sidewalk, 435 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago
WHEN: Wednesday, July 9, 4:00 P. M.
MEDIA CONTACT: (866) 706-2639
WEBSITE: SaveTheTribune.blogspot.com
E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com
[THURSDAY/FRIDAY NEWS CONFERENCES TO BE ANNOUNCED]
---------------------------------------------------------
Andy Martin is a legendary Chicago muckraker, media critic, author, Internet columnist, radio talk show host and broadcaster. Andy is the Executive Editor and publisher of www.ContrarianCommentary.com. © Copyright by Andy Martin 2008. Martin covers regional, national and world events with over forty years of experience. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. Columns are also posted at ContrarianCommentary.blogspot.com; contrariancommentary.wordpress.com. Andy is the author of Obama: The Man Behind The Mask, being published in July 2008, see http://www.OrangeStatePress.com. MEDIA CONTACT: (866) 706-2639 E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com [NOTE: We frequently correct typographical errors and additions/subtractions on our blogs, where you can find the latest edition of this release.]
Andy Martin launches a campaign to “Save the Chicago Tribune”
ANDY MARTIN
Executive Editor
ContrarianCommentary.com
“Factually Correct, Not
Politically Correct”
AMERICA’S #1 POLITICAL
BLOG ON THE 2008 CAMPAIGN
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
ATTENTION DAYBOOK/ASSIGNMENT EDITORS
ANNOUNCEMENT OF CHICAGO NEWS CONFERENCE JULY 8, 2008
ANDY MARTIN LAUNCHES A CAMPAIGN TO SAVE THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE FROM DEVASTATION AT THE HANDS OF SAM ZELL
CAN AMERICAN JOURNALISM BE SAVED?
FORMER NEWSPAPER DELIVERY BOY ANDY MARTIN TRIES TO SAVE THE TRIBUNE “BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE”
(CHICAGO)(July 8, 2008) Andy Martin asks: can the Chicago Tribune be saved? Can the Tribune Company newspapers in Los Angeles, Hartford (where he used to be a carrier boy), Baltimore, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale be rescued? Can American journalism survive? Martin believes a tragedy is unfolding in Chicago: an ignorant, arrogant, incompetent swindler has gained control of the Tribune Company and is systematically destroying the company’s assets, particularly its newspapers.
“The barbarians are not at the gate, they are inside the gate,” says Martin. “The Chicago Tribune is a great asset; the Los Angeles Times, Hartford Courant, Baltimore Sun and other Tribune newspapers have always been highly professional. Now an ignoramus has taken over with a 2% down payment and claims he knows more about journalism than the entire newspaper industry. He has decided that what people want is less news, lower quality news, more pretty pictures and less substance. So Zell is cutting news coverage, dumbing down the product and adding more advertising. Who is going to be left holding the bag? Why Tribune Company employees, of course; they are the majority owners of the post-public company. Zell only has a few hundred million dollars invested in a $13 billion enterprise. He can walk away at any time, leaving the employees with the results of his destructive policies.
“This week I am going to focus on the future of American journalism. Can it be saved? From itself? Through a series of news conferences and performance art we are going to try to get the public to focus on Zell's acts of urban vandalism. Proud, profitable institutions across America are being destroyed by Zell’s larceny and infamy.
“There is no surprise that Zell is seeking to ‘strip’ the Tribune Company’s assets, no doubt with a healthy percentage being placed in his own family’s hands. I predicted this over a year ago. Zell has leased his daughter space in the Tribune Tower. Is she paying a market rent? Doubtful. Zell may be stealing from his own employees.
“Zell acts as though he owns the Tribune outright. But he doesn’t. The company is now owned by an employee ESOP, or employ stock ownership plan. Zell has an option to purchase a significant share of the company but employees are still the majority owners. Employees are being raped and robbed by Zell and his crew of pirates.
“Newspapers are undeniably facing a challenge. Marginal companies such as Knight-Ridder have been absorbed. But newspaper managements are largely the architects of their own demise. If you check what the Tribune charges for a classified ad, they want hundreds of dollars for something that others are giving away. The choice is no longer between a reasonably priced Tribune ad and a competitor, but between an outrageously overpriced Tribune classified ad and competitors offering similar products at lower prices. Right across the newspaper industry classified advertising rates have become a delusional operation in which papers are forfeiting revenue because they still charge monopoly prices for a competitive product.
”Long after their monopolies have dissolved, newspaper managers continue to believe they are entitled to a monopoly rate of return. That is no longer the case. Newspaper media dominance is dissolving.
“What solution do newspaper managements and asset strippers such as Zell propose? They constantly cut staff, cut the quality of the news they are providing, and cry about poor results when papers are still stuffed with ads. At a time when they should be rebuilding they are destroying. How long before Zell ‘discovers’ readers don’t want foreign news, and fires the Tribune’s foreign correspondents? Not long I suspect. Zell makes all kinds of ‘discoveries,’ and all of them are designed to cheapen his product and chase readers away.
“Today we launch a campaign to alert the good citizens of Chicago to the threat facing their media. I may not like the odd Trib employee but I have no hesitation in declaring that the company’s newspapers are outstanding products. Now that Gerald Spector, the quality-cutter-in-chief, has demanded that Tribune employees cut back on paper and paper clips, the time is right to sound the alarm. Spector’s actions are ridiculous, a parody of a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta. His save-the-clips memo is cut straight from Dilbert.
“I am launching ‘Save the Chicago Tribune, Stop Sam Zell’ week. We kick off the campaign with Tuesday’s news conference, and Wednesday and Thursday’s performance art.
“What’s the bottom line? If Zell is not stopped, the Tribune Company’s newspapers are gong to be destroyed. The destruction will not be long in coming. The public will abandon the deracinated remnants of Tribune products. Ironically, by virtue of his destruction Zell will claim a new mandate to keep cutting until the Tribune suspends publication or goes bankrupt.
“Reports that Zell is now using receivables financing are a warning sign of impending bankruptcy. Zell’s ‘asset-backed commercial paper’ borrowing confirms in my mind that he is driving the company into the grave. His receivables ‘factoring’ is recourse to a desperate form of borrowing that is usually a refuge for endangered enterprises.
“There is a world of difference between redirecting a strong institution facing temporary challenges and stripping a moribund enterprise. Zell is treating the Tribune Company as dead meat. His actions will ensure its demise. But that’s what the old buzzard has done his whole life, eat what he kills. He obviously knows nothing about journalism. Journ students take notice: journalism schools are an endangered species if Zell succeeds. Northwestern University’s decision to rename its journ school may be a harbinger.
“Mr. Zell and his confederates may yet get their comeuppance. He is still a fiduciary. He owes the shareholders—his own employees—a fiduciary duty. He owes his employees, whose own lifetime savings are the bulk of the company’s capital, a fiduciary duty not to slash away at a successful company. The fiduciary duty he owes his employees is a legal duty, one that is enforceable by his employees in a court of law. He can be prevented from stripping away the company’s assets and transferring them to his own wolf pack of real estate speculators.
“Right now I am fighting this campaign alone. But Tribune employees need to wake up. The stench emanating for Zell’s abattoir is overwhelming. He has brought with him a bunch of small bore asset strippers to dismember the Tribune company. The Trib is a complex communications conglomerate that needed more focused management. But the company will surely perish from the depredations of Zell and his predators.
“In my characteristic way, composed partly of legal arguments and plenty of tongue-in-cheek activity, maybe more cheek and less tongue, I am focusing attention on Zell’s vandalism of the Chicago Tribune and, by implication, on the endangered future of American journalism. If Zell is not stopped, and if incompetent newspaper management is not replaced, the bell will toll for the First Amendment; newspapers and journalism as we know them will cease to exist” Martin says.
NEWS CONFERENCE DETAILS:
WHO: Internet Columnist/media critic Andy Martin
WHERE: Southeast corner of Huron and Wabash Streets, Chicago
WHEN: Tuesday, July 8, 4:00 P. M.
MEDIA CONTACT: (866) 706-2639
WEBSITE: SaveTheTribune.blogspot.com
E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com
[WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY/FRIDAY NEWS CONFERENCES TO BE ANNOUNCED]
---------------------------------------------------------
Andy Martin is a legendary Chicago muckraker, media critic, author, Internet columnist, radio talk show host and broadcaster. Andy is the Executive Editor and publisher of www.ContrarianCommentary.com. © Copyright by Andy Martin 2008. Martin covers regional, national and world events with over forty years of experience. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. Columns are also posted at ContrarianCommentary.blogspot.com; contrariancommentary.wordpress.com. Andy is the author of Obama: The Man Behind The Mask, being published in July 2008, see http://www.OrangeStatePress.com. MEDIA CONTACT: (866) 706-2639 E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com [NOTE: We frequently correct typographical errors and additions/subtractions on our blogs, where you can find the latest edition of this release.]
Executive Editor
ContrarianCommentary.com
“Factually Correct, Not
Politically Correct”
AMERICA’S #1 POLITICAL
BLOG ON THE 2008 CAMPAIGN
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
ATTENTION DAYBOOK/ASSIGNMENT EDITORS
ANNOUNCEMENT OF CHICAGO NEWS CONFERENCE JULY 8, 2008
ANDY MARTIN LAUNCHES A CAMPAIGN TO SAVE THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE FROM DEVASTATION AT THE HANDS OF SAM ZELL
CAN AMERICAN JOURNALISM BE SAVED?
FORMER NEWSPAPER DELIVERY BOY ANDY MARTIN TRIES TO SAVE THE TRIBUNE “BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE”
(CHICAGO)(July 8, 2008) Andy Martin asks: can the Chicago Tribune be saved? Can the Tribune Company newspapers in Los Angeles, Hartford (where he used to be a carrier boy), Baltimore, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale be rescued? Can American journalism survive? Martin believes a tragedy is unfolding in Chicago: an ignorant, arrogant, incompetent swindler has gained control of the Tribune Company and is systematically destroying the company’s assets, particularly its newspapers.
“The barbarians are not at the gate, they are inside the gate,” says Martin. “The Chicago Tribune is a great asset; the Los Angeles Times, Hartford Courant, Baltimore Sun and other Tribune newspapers have always been highly professional. Now an ignoramus has taken over with a 2% down payment and claims he knows more about journalism than the entire newspaper industry. He has decided that what people want is less news, lower quality news, more pretty pictures and less substance. So Zell is cutting news coverage, dumbing down the product and adding more advertising. Who is going to be left holding the bag? Why Tribune Company employees, of course; they are the majority owners of the post-public company. Zell only has a few hundred million dollars invested in a $13 billion enterprise. He can walk away at any time, leaving the employees with the results of his destructive policies.
“This week I am going to focus on the future of American journalism. Can it be saved? From itself? Through a series of news conferences and performance art we are going to try to get the public to focus on Zell's acts of urban vandalism. Proud, profitable institutions across America are being destroyed by Zell’s larceny and infamy.
“There is no surprise that Zell is seeking to ‘strip’ the Tribune Company’s assets, no doubt with a healthy percentage being placed in his own family’s hands. I predicted this over a year ago. Zell has leased his daughter space in the Tribune Tower. Is she paying a market rent? Doubtful. Zell may be stealing from his own employees.
“Zell acts as though he owns the Tribune outright. But he doesn’t. The company is now owned by an employee ESOP, or employ stock ownership plan. Zell has an option to purchase a significant share of the company but employees are still the majority owners. Employees are being raped and robbed by Zell and his crew of pirates.
“Newspapers are undeniably facing a challenge. Marginal companies such as Knight-Ridder have been absorbed. But newspaper managements are largely the architects of their own demise. If you check what the Tribune charges for a classified ad, they want hundreds of dollars for something that others are giving away. The choice is no longer between a reasonably priced Tribune ad and a competitor, but between an outrageously overpriced Tribune classified ad and competitors offering similar products at lower prices. Right across the newspaper industry classified advertising rates have become a delusional operation in which papers are forfeiting revenue because they still charge monopoly prices for a competitive product.
”Long after their monopolies have dissolved, newspaper managers continue to believe they are entitled to a monopoly rate of return. That is no longer the case. Newspaper media dominance is dissolving.
“What solution do newspaper managements and asset strippers such as Zell propose? They constantly cut staff, cut the quality of the news they are providing, and cry about poor results when papers are still stuffed with ads. At a time when they should be rebuilding they are destroying. How long before Zell ‘discovers’ readers don’t want foreign news, and fires the Tribune’s foreign correspondents? Not long I suspect. Zell makes all kinds of ‘discoveries,’ and all of them are designed to cheapen his product and chase readers away.
“Today we launch a campaign to alert the good citizens of Chicago to the threat facing their media. I may not like the odd Trib employee but I have no hesitation in declaring that the company’s newspapers are outstanding products. Now that Gerald Spector, the quality-cutter-in-chief, has demanded that Tribune employees cut back on paper and paper clips, the time is right to sound the alarm. Spector’s actions are ridiculous, a parody of a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta. His save-the-clips memo is cut straight from Dilbert.
“I am launching ‘Save the Chicago Tribune, Stop Sam Zell’ week. We kick off the campaign with Tuesday’s news conference, and Wednesday and Thursday’s performance art.
“What’s the bottom line? If Zell is not stopped, the Tribune Company’s newspapers are gong to be destroyed. The destruction will not be long in coming. The public will abandon the deracinated remnants of Tribune products. Ironically, by virtue of his destruction Zell will claim a new mandate to keep cutting until the Tribune suspends publication or goes bankrupt.
“Reports that Zell is now using receivables financing are a warning sign of impending bankruptcy. Zell’s ‘asset-backed commercial paper’ borrowing confirms in my mind that he is driving the company into the grave. His receivables ‘factoring’ is recourse to a desperate form of borrowing that is usually a refuge for endangered enterprises.
“There is a world of difference between redirecting a strong institution facing temporary challenges and stripping a moribund enterprise. Zell is treating the Tribune Company as dead meat. His actions will ensure its demise. But that’s what the old buzzard has done his whole life, eat what he kills. He obviously knows nothing about journalism. Journ students take notice: journalism schools are an endangered species if Zell succeeds. Northwestern University’s decision to rename its journ school may be a harbinger.
“Mr. Zell and his confederates may yet get their comeuppance. He is still a fiduciary. He owes the shareholders—his own employees—a fiduciary duty. He owes his employees, whose own lifetime savings are the bulk of the company’s capital, a fiduciary duty not to slash away at a successful company. The fiduciary duty he owes his employees is a legal duty, one that is enforceable by his employees in a court of law. He can be prevented from stripping away the company’s assets and transferring them to his own wolf pack of real estate speculators.
“Right now I am fighting this campaign alone. But Tribune employees need to wake up. The stench emanating for Zell’s abattoir is overwhelming. He has brought with him a bunch of small bore asset strippers to dismember the Tribune company. The Trib is a complex communications conglomerate that needed more focused management. But the company will surely perish from the depredations of Zell and his predators.
“In my characteristic way, composed partly of legal arguments and plenty of tongue-in-cheek activity, maybe more cheek and less tongue, I am focusing attention on Zell’s vandalism of the Chicago Tribune and, by implication, on the endangered future of American journalism. If Zell is not stopped, and if incompetent newspaper management is not replaced, the bell will toll for the First Amendment; newspapers and journalism as we know them will cease to exist” Martin says.
NEWS CONFERENCE DETAILS:
WHO: Internet Columnist/media critic Andy Martin
WHERE: Southeast corner of Huron and Wabash Streets, Chicago
WHEN: Tuesday, July 8, 4:00 P. M.
MEDIA CONTACT: (866) 706-2639
WEBSITE: SaveTheTribune.blogspot.com
E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com
[WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY/FRIDAY NEWS CONFERENCES TO BE ANNOUNCED]
---------------------------------------------------------
Andy Martin is a legendary Chicago muckraker, media critic, author, Internet columnist, radio talk show host and broadcaster. Andy is the Executive Editor and publisher of www.ContrarianCommentary.com. © Copyright by Andy Martin 2008. Martin covers regional, national and world events with over forty years of experience. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. Columns are also posted at ContrarianCommentary.blogspot.com; contrariancommentary.wordpress.com. Andy is the author of Obama: The Man Behind The Mask, being published in July 2008, see http://www.OrangeStatePress.com. MEDIA CONTACT: (866) 706-2639 E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com [NOTE: We frequently correct typographical errors and additions/subtractions on our blogs, where you can find the latest edition of this release.]
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