Employee lawsuit against Sam Zell moves ahead

A federal judge has ruled that a lawsuit filed by current and former Los Angeles Times employees against Tribune Co. chairman Sam Zell can move ahead. The suit alleges Zell "diminished the value of the employee-owned company to benefit himself and his fellow board members."

New York Times taps discarded talent

The New York Times began publishing its California Bay Area pages last week and now the paper has announced it will partner with a few former Chicago Tribune alumni to produce a local Chicago edition starting next month.

From the Times:

James O’Shea, the former editor of The Los Angeles Times and managing editor of The Tribune, will serve as editor of the new Chicago News Cooperative, and James Warren, another former managing editor of The Tribune, will write a regular column for the service. Peter Osnos, another well-known journalist and founder of PublicAffairs books, is the chairman of its advisory board, and one of the board members is Ann Marie Lipinski, former editor of The Tribune.

As the Times rolls out these local editions (which are really pages of content devoted to regional coverage), one has to wonder if the paper has plans for Los Angeles? I suspect USC's journalism school and the founders of The Journalism Shop - a collaboration of former Los Angeles Times staffers - have perked up their ears.

NYT aims for Chicago

After the New York Times launches its San Francisco edition later this year, the paper plans to cobble together a local edition for the city of Chicago.

Can Los Angeles be far behind?

The SF roll out will come sometime this fall and will consist of pages devoted to Northern California news twice a week. The Chicago edition will follow, assuming the SF edition proves successful.

The Wall Street Journal also plans to launch a Bay Area edition.

(via Newspaper Escape Plan)

More trouble with free

Awhile ago I mused most profusely about the ridiculous notion that newspapers would continue to invest in journalism when they're giving away the news for free.

A side effect of not charging for the words writers produce is that owners feel less obligated to pay the writers for their work. Huffington Post is on the vanguard of a new business model, whereby fame is the currency of choice.

HuffPo just blew into the windy city and Kevin Allman is neither impressed with the work nor the fantasy pay scale.