CHICAGO, Oct 22 – Randy Michaels, chief executive of the bankrupt media group Tribune Co., owner of the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and other newspapers, resigned on Friday.
The Tribune Co. said its board of directors has appointed an executive council to assume Michaels\’ responsibilities and the company\’s publishing and broadcast operations.
"The council will provide the company with stability and continuity as it enters what is traditionally the busiest time of the year for its business units and their advertising partners," Tribune Co. chairman Sam Zell said.
"Tribune has strong brands, valuable assets and innovative, dedicated employees," Zell said in a statement.
"Its media businesses have generated solid financial performance through the first three quarters of 2010 — the company is building on that momentum," he said.
The Tribune Co. also said it expected to file a plan of reorganization with the US Bankruptcy Court in the US state of Delaware on Friday.
Besides the Los Angeles and Chicago dailies, the Tribune Co. owns The Baltimore Sun, Orlando Sentinel, Hartford Courant and other newspapers. It also operates 23 television stations.
The Tribune Co. filed for bankruptcy protection in December 2008.
Zell, a Chicago real estate titan, led an eight-billion-dollar leveraged buyout of the Tribune Co. in 2007.
The firm sold the Chicago Cubs baseball franchise and its iconic stadium, Wrigley Field, last year.
Michaels\’ resignation came two and a half weeks after The New York Times published an article which painted a picture of a boorish corporate culture at the Tribune Co. rife with "sexual innuendo, poisonous workplace banter and profane invective."
