Free Republic

Tribune Co filed a reorganization plan late on Friday that will turn over control of the bankrupt newspaper publisher to its leading creditors including JPMorgan Chase & Co, Angelo Gordon & Co and Oaktree Capital Management. The plan signals an important step toward the recovery of the media company -- which owns the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune -- from what Sam Zell, the real estate developer and architect of the 2007 leveraged buyout, called "the deal from hell."

Excerpt - LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Tribune Co. has reached an agreement in principle to sell Newsday to News Corp for $580 million, The Wall Street Journal and Reuters reported, citing unnamed sources. Under the terms of a deal, Newsday would be part of a joint venture with News Corp's New York Post and other News Corp assets, according to the reports. News Corp would own most of the company and Tribune would keep a stake of less than 5%, both reports added. ~ snip ~

The Morning Call to outsource its customer serviceThirty employees will lose their jobs in cost-cutting measure.By Kurt Blumenau Of The Morning Call The Morning Call will outsource its customer service call center later this year as part of a companywide cost-cutting effort by its corporate parent, Tribune Co. of Chicago. Starting in mid-December, customer service calls to the Lehigh Valley's largest newspaper will be answered by a call center in the Philippines owned by APAC Customer Services of Deerfield, Ill. Tribune's largest paper, the Los Angeles Times, has already switched: It has used APAC for customer service calls since 1998,...

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Tribune Co.'s second-largest shareholder has raised the stakes in its dispute over the company's strategic direction, calling for "decisive action" by the newspaper publisher and broadcaster, including a possible sale. The Chandler Trusts, which own more than 12% of Tribune's < outstanding shares, had objected last week to Tribune's plan to buy back up to 25% of its stock, which was part of an attempt to lift a stock price that has lost nearly half its value in the last two years. Most of those shares are to be purchased in Dutch-auction tender offer. In a regulatory...

LOS ANGELES (UPI) -- David Geffen has reportedly become the latest rich and powerful Los Angeles resident to consider buying the hometown newspaper, the Los Angeles Times. The Times reports Geffen, who made a fortune in the music industry and is now a partner in DreamWorks SKG, has told three civic leaders recently how much he would like to own the paper. Dennis J. Fitzsimons, chief executive of the Tribune Co., which owns the Times, said he and Geffen had a meeting this summer at Geffen's request and he told Geffen the paper is not for sale. While the...