Sam Zell Tells LA Times Employees "I'm Your Viagra"

Variety:

Sweeping through his newly acquired business units with characteristic bluster and bluntness, it didn't take too long for Tribune Co. owner Sam Zell to acquire the nickname Yosemite Sam.

And when he met with employees of what has been the Tribune Co.'s problem child, the Los Angeles Times, last month, he was quick to define the newspaper's problems with a kind of cartoonish naughtiness.

"The challenge is, how do we get somebody 126 years old to get it up?" Zell said, referring to the newspaper. "Well ... I'm your Viagra."

Read the whole story: Variety

Comments

[Boris]

01:08 AM on 03/24/2008

I am truly sorry. My dyslexia must be coming back. I thought he said, "I am your Vagina"

[AceInTheHole]

02:17 PM on 03/23/2008

Someone said the other day , while talking about the sad state of the news paper business, and I qoute.
"When you let Greed Gremlims,Crud Peddlers, and High Priests of Mendacity, take your paper over and expect the majority of the people to continue subscribing to it, you have taken creating your own reality to the level of believing that Pixie Dust can cure cancer.":)

[CarlsV]

04:57 AM on 03/23/2008

Yuk!

[Meah]

05:56 PM on 03/22/2008

Zell needs to ask people in L.A. what will bring the LATimes back up. I can tell him. Old fool. Why are men so obsessed with their erections? Just fire some of the interlopers, Zell. Starting with that little Nazi Jonah Goldberg. I was born in L.A. and read the Times since I could read. No more. You cannot change the heart and soul of a really great newspaper, infuse it with corrupt conservative thinking, and think you can sell papers here. It ain't gonna happen Zell. No matter how much Viagra you push. You have to rehire some really good people and get rid of the midwestern mentality along with the old thinking that people are sick of. And the Times needs to quit calling me to resubscribe.

I want my country back.
I want my L.A. Times back.

[bikerdude]

08:40 PM on 03/22/2008

Thank you Meah. Zell will NEVER be a winner in the publishing business. Your description of what happened to the LA Times is accurate and tragic. Get these "business types" back in the front office and let newspaper professionals run the newspaper. If Zell's intellect was as large as his ego, he could rule the world.

[Irons]

05:18 PM on 03/22/2008

Zell is another trust fund kid who was born not with a silver spoon in his mouth, but with an entire table setting crammed in there.

[Irons]

05:23 PM on 03/22/2008

Oops, wrong trust fund kid. not zell.

[Manx]

04:29 PM on 03/22/2008

"I'm your Viagra" is a remark just waiting for a punchline.