L.A. Times buyouts

[MileHigh]

Hope this isn't a d_b

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-tribune21apr21,0,4488687.story?coll=la-home-headlines

Cuts expected to be announced Monday. 150 overall, with 70 from the newsroom.

Tribune had a $217 million operating profit in the first quarter of the year.

 

[BTExpress]

To be fair, "operating profit" is a company's earning power from ongoing operations, equal to earnings before deduction of interest payments and income taxes.

Tribune has a ton of debt (interest payments) and a staggering tax liability.

 

[OTD]

To be fair, "operating profit" is a company's earning power from ongoing operations, equal to earnings before deduction of interest payments and income taxes.

Tribune has a ton of debt (interest payments) and a staggering tax liability.

Yes, let's be sure to be fair to the fine folks who lead the Tribune corporation.

 

[MileHigh]

OK, take away half of that. So their profit was, what, $100 million? For a quarter. I know it's not Google (two straight quarters of $1 billion profits), but still ....

 

[spaceman]

anyone in sports?

 

[BTExpress]

Yes, let's be sure to be fair to the fine folks who lead the Tribune corporation.

Actually, story says operating profit declined 16% to $181 million from $217 million.

So shoot me for being fair and accurate.

 

[Clerk Typist]

A Zell of a note, this.

 

[fishwrapper]

A Zell of a note, this.

Wow. Are you always able to turn a phrase like that?

 

[steveu]

Nice pun. Actually, this isn't his fault yet... he hasn't taken control of Tribune. Now if he does this WHEN he takes charge, then all bets are off.

 

[SF_Express]

I'm hoping for the best for a number of former colleagues who I still count as friends.

And yes, this has nothing to do with Zell yet.

 

[SoCalDude]

This is probably the same situation as when Singleton bought one of his news groups in SoCal. He had it written into the deal that the outgoing ownership had to do the layoffs. Singleton took control Nov. 1, Oct. 31 was a bloody Halloween in those newsrooms.

 

[Birdscribe]

This is probably the same situation as when Singleton bought one of his news groups in SoCal. He had it written into the deal that the outgoing ownership had to do the layoffs. Singleton took control Nov. 1, Oct. 31 was a bloody Halloween in those newsrooms.

That was Long Beach, wasn't it, SoCal? I remember when he came in there and laid waste to the place. Ugly, ugly happenings, between the mass firings and the 20-30% pay cuts.

That used to be a good paper. :'(

 

[busch]

I was in Long Beach when Singleton took over. It was a wonderful time. They made us all 'interview' for our jobs. My interview was a joke. The clown doing the interview said 'So you cover high school sports.' I said 'Yep.' He said 'I like high school sports.' I said 'Yep.' Then he asked if I had any questions of him. I said 'Nope' and the interview was over.
Once that asshole took over the paper we each called into our manager's office and given a piece of paper with our new salary. Mine was about a 25 percent pay cut. If we didn't sign the paper immediately we were escorted out by armed guards. My editor spent a lot of the day in tears.
Like I said it was a wonderful time. Singleton is an ass.

 

[MileHigh]

The Singleton takeover in SoCal was not a pleasant time for many people involved. They didn't make us reapply for our jobs, but there were a lot of people who left and went to other papers and the positions went unfilled.

 

[SoCalDude]

This is probably the same situation as when Singleton bought one of his news groups in SoCal. He had it written into the deal that the outgoing ownership had to do the layoffs. Singleton took control Nov. 1, Oct. 31 was a bloody Halloween in those newsrooms.

That was Long Beach, wasn't it, SoCal? I remember when he came in there and laid waste to the place. Ugly, ugly happenings, between the mass firings and the 20-30% pay cuts.

That used to be a good paper. :'(

It was San Gabriel ... our pay was already so low we didn't have to go through the indignities inflicted upon the Long Beach people and others around the country who Lean Dean hosed. A friend who went through the Long Beach fiasco said that during his interview, the only question he was asked was "What are your favorite restaurants near the office?"

 

[joe]

If we didn't sign the paper immediately we were escorted out by armed guards.

Armed guards?

 

[SoCalDude]

I was at a place once where they pushed a wheel-chair bound woman out to the parking lot after refusing to let her even use the phone to call a family member to come and drive her home.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I don't think there are too many people out there with anything good to say about any of the newspaper chains...

A few years ago, Tribune Co. would have been the runaway winner... Not anymore....

 

[Desk_dude]

With most papers' buyouts, you can't get a job with any other paper in the chain, including freelancing, for one year.

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

I'm hoping for the best for a number of former colleagues who I still count as friends.

And yes, this has nothing to do with Zell yet.

Couldn't a radical change in company structure give grounds for Zell to withdraw from the deal?

Doesn't he "sort of" have to be in on everything from here on out?