The Tribune Company filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, in a move to begin restructuring its debt. The Tribune Co., owner of the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, and various television stations, has $7.6 billion in assets and owes $12.79 billion.
The publisher of the Tribune, Tony Hunter, wrote a letter to the paper’s readers, pledging continued service in the face of adversity. In the letter, he worked to convince readers that the debt restructuring would serve them best.
This restructuring is in Tribune’s best long-term interest. It will reduce pressure on our operating businesses, enabling us to pursue our vision of creating a sustainable, cutting-edge media company valued by our readers, viewers, and advertisers, and that plays a vital role in the communities we serve. In turn, this will help ensure our newspaper and online products continue to deliver the news, information and entertainment you can’t get anywhere else. It’s what you expect and what we’ll continue to deliver.
At the Times, publisher Eddy H. Hartenstein also wrote to assure readers everything would be OK at the Tribune Co.
This restructuring is in Tribune’s best long-term interest. It will reduce pressure on our 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. That, in turn, will help keep this website showing up on your computer every day, offering you news, information and entertainment you can’t get anywhere else. It’s what you expect and what we’ll continue to deliver.
That’s right, Hunter and Hartenstein’s letters are essentially the same. I wonder what poor schlub in the Tribune Co.’s legal department had to write it?
Let’s take a moment to remember that the publishers of these papers certainly do not have the interests of their readers at heart. Hunter became publisher of the Tribune in late September; Hartenstein, a month before. The Times publisher’s prior job was with DirecTV.
Sam Zell, the CEO of Tribune, in a letter to staff members, said he was proud of the work everyone at the company had done. “We’ve reduced costs, gained market share, and laid the groundwork for creating a new business model out of traditional media,” he wrote.
There’s no question newspaper companies have to figure out what the “new business model out of tradition media” is. But as Zell writes about Tribune’s “great brands,” he must remember that a brand that is only a shadow of its former self, and is primarily surviving on its name, is hardly a great brand anymore.
Will the Times and Tribune have to cut staff even more in the coming months? Maybe the papers’ publishers need new assistants. After all, those letters to subscribers don’t write themselves. Actually, just one assistant will do.
