Los Angeles Times Publisher David Hiller and Chicago Tribune Editor-in-Chief Ann Marie Lipinski have resigned, seven months after real-estate billionaire Sam Zell completed his buyout of the company, says a Bloomberg News report.
A successor to Hiller is expected to be named by late September, Tribune Chief Operating Officer Randy Michaels said on July 14 in a memo to employees. Lipinski became the third top newsroom executive at the Chicago newspaper to resign in as many months, saying the position "is not the fit it once was.''
"That decision was difficult and a long time coming, and it would be inaccurate to attribute it to any one event,'' Lipinski said in the memo of her resignation. "There is much to do and your new owners should have their own editor, compatible with their style and goals.''
The departures come a month after Tribune publisher Scott Smith announced plans to retire. Zell has overhauled Chicago- based Tribune's management since becoming chairman in December through the $8.3 billion transaction. He recruited Michaels, a former radio industry executive, to run the company. Lee Abrams, also from radio, was named chief innovation officer.
Lipinski, who started at the Chicago Tribune as an intern in 1978, will leave the newspaper later this week, she said in a memo to staff. Editor Gerould Kern will succeed her, Tribune Co said in a separate statement.
Hiller took over as publisher of the Los Angeles Times in October 2006 after Tribune ousted Jeff Johnson for resisting making newsroom cuts ordered by his bosses. Johnson and then editor Dean Baquet publicly challenged demands to reduce the staff of 940 after the loss of 200 jobs over five years. Baquet left a month later.
