Around the Net

Tribune Still Troubled, Despite Zell's Changes

Portfolio, Friday, November 14, 2008 9:15 AM

When Sam Zell closed his purchase of Tribune Co. in 2007, he promised to arrest its decline with a "fresh, entrepreneurial culture that is fast, nimble and innovative." To that end, he hired pioneering radio programmer, Lee Abrams, as chief innovation officer.

The result is jazzy redesigns of Tribune's eight newspapers with bigger headlines, smaller articles and brighter charts to attract younger audiences and occasional readers. But so far, Abrams' efforts have had no impact on declining circulation.

Some analysts question if the redesign effort makes good business sense as advertising continues to soften. "It's a distraction," says analyst Ken Doctor, "The major challenge to the Tribune is not to incrementally stop circulation declines, but to remake itself into a multimedia modern company." Other experts suggest that at this point any experimentation in newsrooms is welcome.

Read the whole story at Portfolio »

newspapers

Next story loading