JOUR M02 Writing and Reporting for the Media: A Textbook Bad Manager Gets Ready to Go

Los Angeles Times Union President Ronnie Pineda meets Sam Zell

From Workforce Management:

[Sam] Zell is the foul-mouthed CEO of Tribune Co., the big media company that owns not only television and radio stations but also big newspapers including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Baltimore Sun. He was in over his head from the moment he cut the deal to take control of Tribune, and his over-the-top hubris, chronic arrogance and terribly shortsighted decision-making (by both Zell and his management minions) have helped push Tribune into Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

It’s a bad management trifecta that led me to award Zell with the 2009 Workforce Management Stupidus Maximus Award, given annually to the “most ignorant, shortsighted and dumb workforce management practice of the year.”

Well, we may be starting to see the end of Sam Zell, at least as the guy controlling Tribune. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that “Sam Zell’s days as a media titan in Chicago are nearly over. … Eight months after [Tribune’s bankruptcy] filing, two sources familiar with the process said creditors are working on a reorganization plan that elbows Zell aside. The creditors, including investment banks owed $8.6 billion from Zell’s Tribune takeover, would stage a takeover of their own and sell off the company’s newspapers and broadcast stations as they see fit.”

JOUR M02 Writing and Reporting for the Media: A Textbook Bad Manager Gets Ready to Go