Zell: Pulitzer, Shmulitzer, just show me the money

How hip and cynical-sounding, Twoback. Of course it's always been a business. In the beginning and in the end. Everything north of St. Petersburg at least.

The point was, these owners come in and immediately start re-inventing journalism or at least journalists, intimidating the editors who fear being left on the curb to the point that they overhaul their newsrooms to no good end. How many redesigns do we have to endure that do nothing to stem circulation losses? How many declines in ad revenue can get blamed on temperatures and weather being tucked in the wrong places in the newspaper?

What I'd like to see are overhauls of the business side and tweaking of the editorial side, rather than the vice-versa that seems rampant. Zell undoubtedly has a zest and skill for crunching numbers, and he speaks the language of the profit-driven folks in advertising. But he is tone-deaf regarding any acknowledgement whatsoever of the public good aspects of journalism -- he seems to relish trampling on that notion, almost as revenge for himself and his corporate buddies who have resented any sense of watchdog role of the press in the business community -- and every time he figuratively sets foot in a newsroom, he is crushing morale and commitment while alleging to crunch editorial decisions. He has appointed radio people and bootlickers (who wouldn't have gotten their current promotions otherwise) to save newspapers. Wonder why it's not going so well. At the same time, he threatens to default on enormous amounts of debt as if the government is going to bail out his gnarly ass.

 

Now that's change I can believe in, my friends.

 

Oh, I'm sorry I'm cynical Joe.
I've had two papers closed on me, including one where I'd planned to work my entire career.
That'll grow you up real quick.

 

Sorry to hear that, Toobie.

Your unfortunate history with those papers makes me wonder whether it's worse to have papers close out from under you, or to be among a smaller group who get thrown overboard from a paper that limps along?

I'm guessing that people in the latter group would prefer to be in the former, but don't think people in the former would feel any better being in the latter. At least if the joint shut its doors, one wouldn't feel picked on or singled out.

I know if I got laid off, I'd root like hell against the place that did it. Especially since layoffs never include call-backs anymore, a quaint and outdated practice.

 

I saw that post and it included Ass Hat's e-mail. I sent him this:

Dear sir:

I'm a 35-year newspaper veteran. Yes, I'm a dinosaur. I also know
stupidity when I see it. You, sir, belong in the Stupid Hall Of Fame.

Maybe you got out of radio because nobody listens anymore. Over the past
year, I've read several of your e-mails and your scatter-shot ideas on
how to save the Tribune Company rank as some of the most ludicrous
thoughts ever. Thanks so much for dumbing things down and shooting for
the lowest common denominator. That's certainly what this country needs.
When I saw the movie "Network" 30 years ago I never thought I'd actually
see it become reality. If Paddy Chayefsky (check him out; Google is your
friend) was alive today, he'd sue you for plagarism.

By the way, Columbo didn't wear a rumpled sweater. It was a trench coat.
But, hey, facts are overrated.

After you and the Bumbling Baffoon Billionaire mark everything down and
then sell the rest off, I can't wait to see where you go next to wreak
havoc.

With no respect,

(My name)

His reply:
Thanks for your comments. It's visionless people like you that kill
businesses.

My reply:
If you think I'm visionless then I'd much rather be blind than have your
kind of sight. We'll see who kills businesses. Good luck with the $13
billion debt.

By the way, I'm SHOCKED that your ... REPLY was lacking your usual
memo-ese CAPITALIZATION. Or is that just an act to draw attention?

His reply:

Thank you. Let's reconnect in 24 months and see who's right.


NOVEMBER 2010: Where will the Tribune Company be?

 

SockPuppet,

Wow. [Applause].

Way to give him a piece of your (our) mind.

 

Here's today's LA Times sports page. Anyone feel free to tell me what vision is going on here. All I see is less product and bigger font spread out over the same page (and less pages, only 6).

 

Sorry, but there was NEVER a rumpled sweater

 

Sam Zell may be the dumbest rich man alive. His critiques of newspapers business problems are pertinent. But did he really come on and think all newspapers needed were to run leaner and more efficient? He understands the numbers, but he doesn't understand the business.

Newspaper are more complex than other business vehicles.

I can tell that in the interview posted here. He doesn't understand the deep connect people have with their local paper. People don't want local, local, local, they don't want national, national, national.

When people complain local, local, local...that's a code word for nothing is informative or interesting. THEY WANT GOOD STORIES.

You only get that one way. Investing in high priced and talent and labor intensive work. The problem with the business now is that the cost of producing that quality can't be supported by advertising anymore.

Newspaper were tremendous bargains for many years. They aren't so anymore.

His response, because he was stupid enough to borrow $13 billion for these rags is to cut editorial. Great, it makes short term numbers look better but that is your product. So, you are charging more and giving people less. People notice. Everyone hates the redesign where I am from. People can read the paper in one stint on the can.

He is killing the quality of the product because the thinks the market doesn't differentiate. He doesn't seem to understand that his paper is read because of the exhaustive and labor intensive work (a huge outlay) that has built up over decades.

He is destroying the one thing that made people pick up the paper. THE CREDIBILITY OF THE NAME. Because of that, he is devaluing his own asset.

Lesson is only go into businesses that you know well. It wasn't as simple as you thought.

 

Nobody cares about the product anymore, evidenced by all the hacking of the highest paid reporters. This business deserves what it gets. Soon it will be all the butt kisser editors who will not get fired bossing around the 8 dollar an hour freelancers trying to salvage a readable "product."
Good luck. Who would have thought the Chicago Tribune will before long have a staff of reporters right out of school making 8 bucks an hour? Amazing.

 

Aspiring authors are told to "write what you know." JFS1000 makes a good case that Grave Dancers like Zell (old fool is actually proud of that nickname) should only own what they know. But their hubris knows no bounds.

 

Zell actually HATES his product. He bought it to be a big shot, and he's either hated or ridiculed by the other big shots in every city with a Tribune paper. It's not his fault, because rich people know they're perfect. So it has to be the papers' fault. All those newspaper employees are thwarting his perfect scheme. So he abuses the very idea that people might prefer quality work in a paper.
That's not just insulting his employees, it's insulting his customers. It appears they've noticed.
The next time Zell speaks in public, he should be custard pie bait.