A single No kills or defers

By Lou Grant | Feb 17, 3:01 PM

The developing civil war inside the Tribune Co., caused by Sam Zell taking over as CEO in December, was noted by media oberservers in London and New York last week. According to Roy Greenslade, here, Zell is urging people to browse the Internet for porn, 'saying it was "un-American not to like pussy."'

Jay Mariotti, over at the Chicago Sun-Times, attacked Zell for defending running strip-joint ads in the "respectable Los Angeles Times." The Chicago Sun-Times accepts such ads. Does Mariotti disapprove of that? Does it make the Sun-Times any more or less of a newspaper because it accepts ads for "adult massages," strip clubs and other entertainment some consider vice?

But I digress, which I note, I do a lot. According to Greenslade, "Zell's 'pep talk' resulted in some executives taking him at his word and the f word suddenly became common.

Okay, Roy, for the most part, the little boys and girls have already gone to bed. Frankly, they don't give a shit about your blog. It's perfectly fine to say "FUCK" here. The only problem is that you'll get a higher adult rating at Google. Just say FUCK.

Oh wait, just a sentence later you say shit: "The shit has hit the fan." Why is it not okay to say FUCK but it is okay to say SHIT? Is there something in the stylebook about this that I missed? Personally, I'd rather be fucked that shit on.

But seriously, this is a good post, despite it's random applications of prudery. Good god, is that a word? The battle between those who are in and those who see an opportunity is on. As Greenslade points out some executives are backtracking on Zell. "Last week you may have encountered some colorful uses of the lexicon from Sam Zell," he quotes three American executives as saying.

Actually, I've misquoted Greenslade. The executives are quoted as saying "colourful." I apologize to the executives, and to Roy Greenslade. I expect most of my readers are Americans. Even if the Los Angeles Times executives used the more common spelling for colorful, it would be circled here by over-Zellous editors. Shame on them. Embrace our differences.

The executives then "clarified" that viewing porn on newsroom computers was prohibited, as was "profane or hostile language." WTF? "Sam is a force of nature; the rest of us are bound by the normal conventions of society," the LA Times memo reportedly said.

You missed it Greenslade. In Chicago, a memo was sent around to staff urging them to use the discredited Transformative Change structure. It even included a form to fill out.

Here is a blank Idea Resume for your many ideas. The process is very simple:

the team will run through a series of gates to see their potential. It happens quite quickly. Then one of the team will respond to you on what happened with your idea.

In the form one of the boxes says, any "no" kills or defers the project.

Now, I want to conclude this post, so I thought it would be instructive to return to the thoughts of Zell himself when he started the process of "Talk to Sam:"

From: Talk to Sam

Sent: Thursday, January 31, 2008 8:32 AM

Subject: Your Ideas

There's been a transformative change in the Transformative Change e-mail box. It's gone. Use this e-mail box to send your ideas, and I want to see a lot of them. We've now officially moved into the mode of AFDI.

Sam

Tagged: Chicago Sun-Times, Los Angeles Times, Jay Mariotti, Tribune Company