Tribune Co

Tribune Co. has disclosed that the U.S. Department of Labor has opened an investigation into the company's employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP. The Labor Department sent a subpoena March 2 to the Chicago-based media company seeking "an extensive range of documents," Tribune Co. said in a filing made Thursday as part of its bankruptcy case. The company said it produced documents that its lawyers say "substantially complied" with the subpoena.

Tribune Co. will have to mount some persuasive arguments why regulators should allow real estate mogul Sam Zell to take the media company private, Federal Communications Commissioner Michael J. Copps said. "This is a multifaceted proceeding, so I am not going to prejudge it. I will look at it in terms of the world we live in," Copps said on the sidelines of the National Assn. of Broadcasters' annual conference.

The Chicago Cubs filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday, a step that will allow their owner to sell the baseball team in an $845-million deal. The filing in Wilmington, Del., was anticipated and is expected to lead to a brief stay in Chapter 11 for the Cubs. A hearing was scheduled for today in front of the judge who has been handling the bankruptcy of the Cubs' owner, Tribune Co. The Cubs' filing is part of Tribune Co.'s plans to sell the team, Wrigley Field and related properties to the family of billionaire Joe Ricketts , the founder of Omaha-based TD Ameritrade.

How much should a company's culture reflect its chief executive, especially one who prides himself on being a blunt and innovative -- some might say abrasive -- businessman? If you're new Tribune Co. CEO Sam Zell, the answer seems to be: A lot. At least that was the feeling workers got Wednesday with the distribution of a new employee handbook, a document that's nothing like the mind-numbing, lawyered gobbledygook in most corporate manuals. Consider the opening: "Rule #1: Use your best judgment."

Veteran television executive Ed Wilson will become president next week of Tribune Broadcasting, stepping into a job that carries the task of re-energizing 23 TV stations that have been squeezed in recent years by falling advertising sales. Wilson, currently president of News Corp.'s Fox TV network, is among the first high-level appointments for Tribune Co. Chairman Sam Zell and the company's executive vice president, Randy Michaels.

Some people think Sam Zell should reread his new employee handbook. During a meeting last week with Orlando Sentinel employees, the Tribune Co. chairman ended his answer to a photographer's questions about hard news coverage by directing a two-word obscenity at her. A video of the meeting made its way to YouTube and on Monday was on the media gossip website Gawker, which described Zell as a "salty billionaire."

Tribune Co., struggling with declining revenue, said Wed- nesday it would cut staff by 400 to 500 people companywide, or about 2% of the Chicago-based media company's workforce. At the Los Angeles Times, 100 to 150 jobs would be eliminated -- 40 to 50 of them in the newsroom -- through a combination of attrition, voluntary buyouts and, if necessary, layoffs, Publisher David D. Hiller said.

In an effort to recapture some of the national advertising dollars that have fled the pages of newspapers for major websites, Tribune Co. and three other leading media chains today will announce a joint venture to sell ads on their Web pages on a national scale. The alliance, called QuadrantONE, is financed by Tribune, the parent of The Times, along with Gannett Co., Hearst Corp. and New York Times Co.

KTLA-TV Channel 5 laid off a veteran reporter and one of its weekend anchors Monday, part of a handful of cuts at the local station that also included several executives. Weekend anchor Walter Richards and reporter Willa Sandmeyer were let go along with reporter Janet Choi, executive editor of planning Joseph M. Russin and morning news executive producer John Hensley. KTLA, like the Los Angeles Times, is owned by Tribune Co.

NEW YORK -- Tribune Co. is inviting at least three potential buyers who submitted bids for the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field near or above $1 billion to participate in a second round of proposals, according to a person involved in the process.