Tribune Fires CEO Randy Michaels: NYT

The New York Times is reporting that the Tribune Co. will ask for the resignation of CEO Randy Michaels on Tuesday.

According to an insider who spoke to the paper, the Tribune board has lost confidence in Michaels' stewardship of the company.

Tribune has faced financial difficulties for years; a debt-laden purchase by real estate mogul Sam Zell in 2007 did not lift the company out of its economic slump, and it filed for bankruptcy in December 2008, less than a year after Zell bought it. Tribune sold major titles like Newsday and even unloaded the Chicago Cubs, but it remains in bankruptcy court.

In addition, Zell brought with him a corporate culture that, as the Times reported two weeks ago, many at the company saw as sexist and offensive. The scandal that surrounded the revelations in the Times story was quickly followed by another one -- this time involving Lee Abrams, the eccentric and controversial chief innovation officer who was forced to resign last Friday after he sent a company-wide email featuring an Onion parody video that he labeled "Sluts."

Michaels, who had a long career in radio before joining Tribune in 2007, only became CEO in December of 2009.

Comments

[crookedcountyillinois]

02:24 AM on 10/20/2010

Why stop there? One person can't be responsible for the lousy reporting of the Tribune...

[blueskybigstar]

11:29 PM on 10/19/2010

When the CIA takes over, they bring a culture of immorality and incompetence which causes everything they touch to fall apart.

http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quotes_about/cia

[Callyson]

08:49 PM on 10/19/2010

Too bad it is probably too late to resuscitate the Los Angeles Times.

[srivers]

03:19 PM on 10/19/2010

It's sad to see the Chicago Tribune deteriorate.

[BushBites]

02:39 PM on 10/19/2010

The company is being run by former Shock Jocks.

I'm just surprised they haven't set fire to Tribune Tower yet.

[mratcheson]

01:20 PM on 10/19/2010

Unfortunately, it's probably too late.

[ndem]

01:12 PM on 10/19/2010

It's just a real loss to all media that some great newspapers were destroyed by this kind of "sexist and offensive" behavior. How could Zell and Michaels and all who participated in creating this kind of atmosphere at work, especially when we need good media so badly, possibly think it was ok?

[InfinteShibumi]

12:54 PM on 10/19/2010

Well that took a while...

[dblan9]

12:30 PM on 10/19/2010

Supporting candidates who de-funded schools and then wondering why nobody reads newspapers anymore is no way to survive. You destroyed your future for gains yesterday. You are an example of exactly how you fail in business.

[Maggie Van Ostrand]

12:08 PM on 10/19/2010

Seeing the Tribune like this is like seeing the Queen of England getting mugged.

"One wants one's Chicago Trib"

[GomboMan]

11:52 AM on 10/19/2010

Good riddance. I've watched the Trib go from a first class paper to junk in just a couple short years, and seen a bunch of boneheaded moves at WGN radio in that same time (with the exception of bringing Garry Meier on board in the afternoon— the only smart thing that's they've done).

[mojopo]

11:13 AM on 10/19/2010

Good. Too bad it took too long. It's going to take the Trib years to make up for the damage caused by these doorknobs.

[BKearney]

10:27 AM on 10/19/2010

it's sad to watch an old friend like the newspaper die. i used to read every section of the san francisco chronicle every morning but here i am at hufpo, times change

[BillyClub]

10:23 AM on 10/19/2010

It's very painful to watch the "Tribune" self-destruct. Solution: I'm available as its new CEO!

[greenwren]

08:02 PM on 10/19/2010

You couldn't be any worse, and most likely would be a huge improvement. And that's without knowing a darned thing about you. (P.S. I'm a Trib employee.)

[Gudrun]

10:10 AM on 10/19/2010

Why were these guys, with so little experience in print journalism, at the head of this organization?

[mojopo]

11:11 AM on 10/19/2010

Zell's friends and family hiring program is my best guess.

[goodhelp]

01:06 PM on 10/19/2010

Don't you know? It's because they were so successful in radio...a business built on adding value to thin air! What they did was formula radio, cookie-cutter style. Same "Two-fer Tuesdays" and Three-fer Thursdays" and so on.

They took stations with a personality and individuality and made them "safe" for investors. Their path of corporate destruction is miles deep and many people and careers wide. Abrams and Michaels have finally run out of believers in their bull sh*t. Thank God!