Toluu

Tell Zell

What you really think

Here's a Bit of Bright NewsSeptember 19 2008

New Publisher Eddy Hartenstein has apparently convinced Jim Newton to come back.

I'm pleased to announce that Jim Newton has agreed to return to The Times to resume his duties as editor of the editorial pages. You all know Jim, so no introduction is needed. I would like to note that his decision to rejoin our enterprise, despite the demands of his book-writing career, is a vote of confidence in what we are trying to accomplish.

He'll start on Monday and report to me. In the meantime, Jim asked that I send along this note:

Rest of email and Jim's mash note to Eddy H. follows

"As you all know, The Times has a special claim on my heart and I'm convinced that Eddy represents our best chance for sustaining and building great journalism. Given that, I'm delighted that he's offered me the chance to return, and I'm thrilled to move back into my old office—the best in the building. See you all in a few days."

Please join me in welcoming Jim back to the team.

eddy

Touching a NerveSeptember 18 2008

All right, the Retch knows he's way late on this, but the Dan Neil et al. lawsuit seems to have touched a nerve.

Who knew that Sam Zell -- more likely the thin-skinned Randy Michaels -- cared so much? First, check out the language of the email that Zell sent out to let employees know about the lawsuit:

There is a difference between questioning authority or challenging the "business as usual attitude," and maligning the company in public. That's just bad judgment and does no one any good. It's a distraction that's unnecessary.

We are partners. We need to act like it.

Sam, the time for "acting" like partners ended when you cursed at us; when you denigrated us; when you told us we were overhead; when you fired reporters; when you cut back newshole; when you deprived our readers of information about their lives to make the payments on your over-leveraged debt.

Partner, in case your dictionary knowledge is as lacking as your lackey's grammatical knowledge, is a word which implies equality. But you have never acted as an equal.

We have no power. We have no say. We have never been consulted in a single action that you or any of your cronies have taken in dismantling the Tribune Co. So stop fucking call me

Passive VoiceSeptember 9 2008

Here's a photo of two of the reigning con artists in the news business: Lee Abrams and Rob Curley.

The two were together in Vegas for the opening of the Society of News Design conference. Together, they crowed many inane, unsupported statements. Lee kicked it off by saying "war has been declared" on newspapers. What a wonderfully bizarre, illogical sentence. By whom? When? And why? Typically, the grammatically challenged Lee offered no answers.

Then there was Rob Curley, formerly at the Washington Post and now at the Las Vegas Sun. If there ever was an heir to the Pied Piper design chicanery of Mario Vargas, and Lee Abrams, it's Curley.

The guy has bounced from newspaper to newspaper, from Kansas, to Florida to Nevada, spouting local, local nonsense, criticizing news coverage, and leaving sky high bills for expensive, unproven tech toys like live broadcasts of high school football games. And yet he has never, ever increased circulation anywhere.

How do these charlatans get away with this? Why does design ever trump the simple editorial imperative of telling good stories? How long do the emperors get to run around naked?

A Spade A SpadeSeptember 9 2008

Aging Tribune Wonder Ad Kid John T. O'Loughlin wrote an email just before the Sunday publication of the first edition of the new Los Angeles Times Magazine that laid bare the truth: the magazine is explicitly and exactly an ATM for the Tribune.

He announces the sudden and unceremonius departure of Publisher Valarie Anderson, who was only named as head of the new magazine in July.

Next, he says that ad reps are encouraged to share the magazine with advertisers to "get your feedback on any gaps or obstacles you see in closing business." He pleas for more material to fill pages before the next edition closes on Sept. 22. He ends the email with the admonition "Thanks for your help - and good selling."

Other comments and criticism of the vacuous new glossy at LA Observed.

Full email follows
From: O'Loughlin, John
Sent: Saturday, September 06, 2008 9:59 AM
To: XXXX
Subject: Magazine debut and staffing change

First issue of LA will debut in our Sunday paper tomorrow. Once you
have had the opportunity to spend some time with it, I hope you agree
that it's a terrific, if not stunning, book and at 144 pages, a vibrant
mix of unique content and an inviting environment for/of advertising.

OrzellianSeptember 8 2008

Sam Zell was apparently upset that BusinessWeek portrayed him as an overleveraged, under-intellectualized nimrod in an article this summer.

Tribune spokesman Gary Weitman wrote a letter complaining that the article was a "disappointing compilation of inaccuracies, half-truths, and incomplete reporting."

Only the problem is, Weitman did not point out a single inaccuracy or half-truth. He disputed not a single fact in the article. As for "incomplete," BusinessWeek actually published a transcript of Zell's interview, letting him prattle on far longer than anyone has a right to do.

The Retch is not an idealist. But for the owner of a media company dedicated to telling the truth, Zell has shown precious little regard for it himself. He has tried to manipulate reports on the company's financial health. And now he is deploying the cheap rhetorical techniques of a propagandist to smear a completely accurate news article.

Not only that, but the Tribune letter itself is full of miraculous and unsupported claims. Weitman says that the Tribune is currently building some kin