I think it’s maybe one more step in the
demise of newspapers.
Maybe you can understand this better
than I can:
The Tribune Publishing Company is being
led off the primrose path by its board and its board chairman, Michael Ferro.
Last week they announced that the
company will change its name to “tronc.”
Yup. tronc. All lower case. It’s supposed to mean “tribune online
content.” Which has been about as popular as your average run-of-the-mill
newspaper-generated online news and entertainment content. You know what I
mean.
Keep in mind that Tribune is America’s
third largest newspaper publisher, with 10 dailies (including the Los Angeles
Times) and some community tabloids.
Last week after the board meeting Ferro
announced that tronc will be a “content curation and monetization company
focused on creating and distributing premium, verified content across all
channels.”
Maybe this means no tronc-generated
content will be given away free anymore. Could mean other things, too. I
thought about saying “Beam me up, Scotty.”
Here’s the thing. Ferro’s announcement
did not mention the word “newspaper.” Did I mention that tronc owns only
newspapers?
One other thing: at the board meeting,
Tribune shareholders cast 49% of their votes against the board’s own nominees
for director, mostly in protest against Tribune’s refusal to consider a
seemingly generous buyout bid from Gannett. Ferro and the rest don’t want to
give up the sinking ship. You know what I mean.
Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2016
All rights reserved.
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