Mea Culpa

Partners,

During my visits to our business units over the past few weeks, I’ve gotten a lot of feedback, and I’ve loved all of it. People have told me how excited they are for the future; how they are believers now, when they had given up hope; and how they’ve been waiting for this bus for a long, long time.

In some of these meetings, I used language that was deliberately outrageous. My goal was to shock you, to shake you out of complacency, and to help you understand that the game has changed, and we have to change with it. You may not like me or the way I say things, but I’m thrilled and delighted that for the first time, you may actually have an opinion about your CEO.

Nevertheless, it’s possible that, in the process, I may have violated Rule #1. Mea culpa.

You’ve heard Randy and I talk about taking calculated risks with limited downside, and I’ve applied that principle in my presentations. Overall, I’ve achieved my intended impact. The enormous buzz around our visits to the business units reaches well beyond our company. We’ve created an extraordinary level of interest and commentary. So I ask you, when was the last time the industry sat up to take notice of Tribune, or cared what we had to say? How long has it been since Tribune was seen as fresh or cutting edge?

Extremism in the pursuit of opportunity is not a vice. You’ve seen me step over the edge, if only to get you to take a few steps toward the line.

Sam

SOURCE: Kevin Roderick