Sam Zell to L.A. Times: Watch Porn at Your Desk, But Don't Piss All Over the Office!

Sam Zell's quirky antics interesting and fun, but can he save Tribune, and at what cost to the staff? BD

Article by John Koblin | February 7, 2008

THE NEW YORK OBSERVER

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Tribune chief Sam Zell had a meeting with the staff of The Los Angeles Times today that was so wildly entertaining it puts to shame the one he held at Newsday two weeks ago. Among other things discussed— his willingness to take a 50-cent salary!—he blasted outgoing editor Jim O'Shea, according to a newsroom source present.

Mr. Zell said this morning that Mr. O'Shea "pissed all over the company where he worked for over 30 years," and that he embarrassed the company.

"He really trashed him," our source said. "He said it was just unacceptable for him to humiliate me and humiliate this company and asked why he shit all over the place. He said that we have enough trouble as it is and it was a really, really bad way to go."

According to two L.A. Times sources, a lot of people at the paper felt the same way. "Someone, that being S.Z., finally called bullshit on Jim O'Shea," said a newsroom source. At the meeting there was a "lot of laugther and a lot of clapping. A lot of good energy."

In response to a question, Mr. Zell also talked about the importance of adding more local stories to the front page. When discussing newsroom decorum, he told reporters that if they want to watch porn all day at their desk then go for it! As long as they're productive. He added, with a smile, "Let me know if you find any good sites."

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Comments

I think Mr. Zell is a breath of fresh air and could turn Tribune around. That being said, his anti-union bias is disturbing to me, and many of the other IBEW, IATSE, DGA, AFTRA, and Newspaper Guild members in his employ.

When the troops came home after World War Two, many took jobs in broadcasting, film, and theater. Being college educated, officers tended to get management positions, while trade school trained enlisted men tended to gravitate to production/technical jobs.

This was such a standard practice that the original payroll system at NBC mirrored that of the military services with pay grades designated "E-1 to E7" for NABET broadcast technicians and "O-1, etc" designations for managers.

Managers were non-union; production/technical crafts were represented by trade unions; AFTRA, DGA, IBEW, IATSE, NABET, and WGA.

Now, here we are in the 21st century. Almost everyone in all facets of broadcasting, film, and theater is college educated, many with advanced degrees. Everyone starts out as an intern and/or production assistant at little or no pay. As soon as possible, they move up, taking the next job offered, sometimes production, sometimes technical, sometimes managerial.

The result is that young people in our business today discover a career path based on an accident of opportunity.

Therefore the traditional management/labor stereotypes have long since ceased to have any reality based relevance.

It is time for employers, like Sam Zell, and trade unionists alike to re-evaluate the traditional "us vs them" paradigm and begin to look for ways to better utilize collective bargaining for the benefit of both management and labor to create safe, profitable workplaces that provide a decent living for all, and a product we can all be proud of. BD