Tribune owner drops "F-bomb" on journalist

[jerrydoubleu]

Zell is a piece of work douchbag.

[Ju5tClever]

I hope everything you wished upon Mr. Zell occurs to you. I also hope that God penalizes you double for your ignorance.

[GQguy24]

This guy is a Greedy asshole who would obviously sell his sole to the devil if it would make him a few extra millions! Fuck you Sam Zell! Why dont you go drive around Viagra Triangle some more in your Ferrari and pick up some skanky whore gold diggers! I hope you get aids from one of those shallow whores and die!

[jghoward]

Profit is essential, of course. In a media saturated world, it may not be possible to hold one's attention long enough to earn a subscription. People are more sophisticated about consuming (and producing) media, and they have more choices than ever before.

If newspapers hope to profit from loyal subscribers, they need to become more relevant to peoples' lives. The rise of participatory and citizen journalism should give a clue about the need to serve the public in new and innovative ways.

[patiodaddyo1]

FU??...First thing this Zell guy needs to understand about Chicago is that most folks will just ignore the Trib and it's affiliates WGN, Comcast and yes even my lil Cubbies, God Bless 'em. Just ask Macy's how they're doing.

[xeneizeusa]

Big Wigs at the Tribune Towers have been saying FU to all its employees for the past 7yrs with their lack of initiative & slash and cut policies just to continue securing the necessary profit numbers to maintatin their annual bonuses and fat exit payoffs. I didn't see a single one of them cut those numbers to reinfuse millions into our struggling cash flow. That may have gone towards reinvigorating the moral and drive of the company and push towards a new way. Now we'll push with SZ at the helm!

[folkrockfandango]

I know lots of people at one of SZ's newspapers, and have heard firsthand about his style. So far, no sign of the pointy-haired incompetence common at Tribune. I have high hopes that he will help invigorate his publications. What really sucks about the marginalization of print is that most of the quality journalism you see on TV is originally reported by print. There is a disconnect in profit sharing there.

[folkrockfandango]

I'm wondering why they didn't include the reporter's question. If Sam Zell wants to cuss out one of his employees, so be it. I received this video from some media reform organization... the media doesn't need to be reformed. The owners of the media outlets need to become less greedy, and stop selling out to people like Murdoch and maybe even Zell. But I do know that Tribune did a horrific job of operating the newspapers it owned in my area. Zell may make them viable again.

[xeneizeusa]

Because the uploader is hoping to tilt the opinion against SZ for his rudeness rather the response he gave which is on target. People here are confusing his rallying cry of reform to generate revenue with greed for more money. That's not the case. Newspapers are tanking, we are losing money. We need to rediscover a path to be relevant and competetive with the myriad of choices the public has to stay informed. His call for more revenue is a wake up call to our industry that we need change now!

[folkrockfandango]

Couldn't agree more. We are tanking. It's not because there is no value to the amazing amount of info people get for 50 cents. Despite a lot of criticism, local newspapers are the ONLY media covering local news. There is a TREMENDOUS value to local newspapers, but reading, as an activity, is being replaced by ... "idiocracy" (see film of same title). People are going to miss newspapers terribly once they're gone. Zell is right, but rude. Fine. So are many reporters, and most editors.

[canice123]

Such a JERK. I am cancelling my subscription to LA imes.

[JustinFCase]

Shows you how screwed up the media has become. It used to be that media reported the FACTS and got more readers and more money. Now it all about money, money, money, then when they get around to it report the facts. GREED HAS DISTROYED AMERICA.

[xeneizeusa]

Everybody is missing the fact that the news is now delivered by so many sources that the public flocks to all these other avenues for their news! The arrogance is the editorial elite deciding what is relevant to the public. Yes the defenders of the fourth estate need to continue to inform but the public also wants a degree of fluff. When somebody with balls can figure out the way to deliver both, newspaper sales numbers may increase again. It is not GREED to want to save our jobs and industry!

[jghoward]

What a bunch of BS. This guy wants to talk about arrogant? As soon as newspapers have more relevance, they will start seeing better profits

[fiyahspinnah]

I couldn't agree more.

[jwkearns]

print journalists are lucky to be alive at all. at the same time zell is buying the chicago trib (now), turning it from a conservative corporate organ into what newspapers used to be (good or bad): the private domain of some iconoclastic rich guy (McCormick, for example) - but at the same time he is buying the Trib, the Sun Times is imploding, leaving Chicago a one newspaper town. At least Zell is a real guy.

[folkrockfandango]

Actually, most print journalists probably would disagree. It's a miserable living, fraught with negativity and dysfunctional personalities. That said, you're the one who is lucky print is alive. Without print you would have absolutely no idea why your local property taxes are skyrocketing or if your kids' school is prepared to handle an emergency like a tornado or a gunman. Print covers your town - it's not too exciting but still is far more important than Britney. One paper is better than none.

[codyschuyler]

my dad was there, hes a district manager

[xeneizeusa]

Agreed! I am tired of Editorial divas (male and female) that feel that they are doing God's work. Yes I applaud and defend the journalist ethics and duty to the people...but today the people can get that information from many venues. We need to figure a way to get them to still buy the newspaper so that advertisers continue buying newspaper space. If the public wants "puppies" give it to them and still figure a way to provide the information journalism dictates they should receive and read.

[smra04]

He's trying to save a lot of jobs, and you need money to pay these reporters. I don't think any of them want to work for free or even take a pay cut. So you need advertisers to pay the salaries. As much as editorial people think their stories are the only thing that counts in the newspaper you need a balance of ads/edit !!!

[OrchidMaroon]

didn't he just suck up our retirement? lol