Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

After Mike Ferro, the deluge?

Union-Tribune owner tronc's Chicago shakeup

Tronc gets roasted.
Tronc gets roasted.

First Qualcomm's Paul Jacobs, now Mike Ferro. Each has abruptly surrendered leadership of a corporate board with an oversized say in San Diego life and politics.

Video:

Last Week Tonight on newspapers

John Oliver compares journalists to Pompei residents

John Oliver compares journalists to Pompei residents

Ferro, the Chicago wheeler-dealer who took the San Diego Union-Tribune, Los Angeles Times, and a raft of other daily newspapers on a hairy ride down a slippery slope, announced early Monday, March 19 that he is stepping down as chairman of the troubled newspaper chain infamously named tronc.

Ferro spokesman Dennis Culloton told the New York Times that his boss was “burned out” and wanted to "go out on a win," apparently alluding to the sale of the L.A. Times and U-T to biotech billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong, expected to close soon.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Still owner of a big chunk of tronc, Ferro handed the chairmanship to longtime associate and tronc CEO Justin Dearborn. “I am confident that under the leadership of Justin and the rest of the board and management team Tronc will continue to deliver value for investors while executing the plan for digital transformation,” Ferro's statement said.

Since Ferro grabbed control two years ago in February 2016 of what then was called Tribune Publishing, tronc has been promising a digital makeover of its fading newspaper empire, most infamously in a June 2016 online video that became grist for a scorching John Oliver put-down that August.

"This tronc team will work with all of the local markets to harness the power of our local journalism, feed it into a funnel, and then optimize it so that we reach the biggest global audience possible," a company spokeswoman promised in the video.

But the doomsday clock kept ticking as the papers continued to slide without action from the Chicago mother ship, with Dearborn telling Wall Street analysts in a January 2017 conference call "Overall, print is attriting. We are going to attrit with the industry."

At the company's San Diego property, the list of prominent attritees includes noted business writer and columnist Dan McSwain, who announced in September 2017 he would leave his job due to "mild cognitive decline," and veteran development reporter Roger Showley, who is set to depart this spring.

Then came January's meltdown at the Los Angeles Times, in which the paper's controversial editor Lewis D’Vorkin was kicked upstairs and publisher Ross Levinsohn revealed to have been a defendant in two sexual harassment suits.

A week later, tronc announced it would unload both the Times and its little San Diego sibling to L.A. billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong for $500 million and assumption of $90 million in pension liabilities.

Update: Fortune reported Monday afternoon, March 19, that Ferro has been accused by two women of inappropriate advances.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego's Uptown Planners challenged by renters from Vibrant Uptown

Two La Jolla planning groups fight for predominance
Next Article

Flowering pear trees in Kensington not that nice

Empty dirt plots in front of Ken Cinema
Tronc gets roasted.
Tronc gets roasted.

First Qualcomm's Paul Jacobs, now Mike Ferro. Each has abruptly surrendered leadership of a corporate board with an oversized say in San Diego life and politics.

Video:

Last Week Tonight on newspapers

John Oliver compares journalists to Pompei residents

John Oliver compares journalists to Pompei residents

Ferro, the Chicago wheeler-dealer who took the San Diego Union-Tribune, Los Angeles Times, and a raft of other daily newspapers on a hairy ride down a slippery slope, announced early Monday, March 19 that he is stepping down as chairman of the troubled newspaper chain infamously named tronc.

Ferro spokesman Dennis Culloton told the New York Times that his boss was “burned out” and wanted to "go out on a win," apparently alluding to the sale of the L.A. Times and U-T to biotech billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong, expected to close soon.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Still owner of a big chunk of tronc, Ferro handed the chairmanship to longtime associate and tronc CEO Justin Dearborn. “I am confident that under the leadership of Justin and the rest of the board and management team Tronc will continue to deliver value for investors while executing the plan for digital transformation,” Ferro's statement said.

Since Ferro grabbed control two years ago in February 2016 of what then was called Tribune Publishing, tronc has been promising a digital makeover of its fading newspaper empire, most infamously in a June 2016 online video that became grist for a scorching John Oliver put-down that August.

"This tronc team will work with all of the local markets to harness the power of our local journalism, feed it into a funnel, and then optimize it so that we reach the biggest global audience possible," a company spokeswoman promised in the video.

But the doomsday clock kept ticking as the papers continued to slide without action from the Chicago mother ship, with Dearborn telling Wall Street analysts in a January 2017 conference call "Overall, print is attriting. We are going to attrit with the industry."

At the company's San Diego property, the list of prominent attritees includes noted business writer and columnist Dan McSwain, who announced in September 2017 he would leave his job due to "mild cognitive decline," and veteran development reporter Roger Showley, who is set to depart this spring.

Then came January's meltdown at the Los Angeles Times, in which the paper's controversial editor Lewis D’Vorkin was kicked upstairs and publisher Ross Levinsohn revealed to have been a defendant in two sexual harassment suits.

A week later, tronc announced it would unload both the Times and its little San Diego sibling to L.A. billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong for $500 million and assumption of $90 million in pension liabilities.

Update: Fortune reported Monday afternoon, March 19, that Ferro has been accused by two women of inappropriate advances.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Nation’s sexy soldiers stage protest at Pendleton in wake of change in Marine uniform policy

Semper WHY?
Next Article

Navy solves San Diego homeless crisis by retiring four locally moored ships

Decommision Accomplished
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.