Good news, Chicago Tribune employees! The 100 or so of you who will get laid off will get a minimum of three months of health insurance! That is so awesome. Also a minimum of four weeks pay, which isn't the worst. Anyway, okay, bye, get out! At least they only tangentially used the ridiculous post-language corporate phrase "Employee Voluntary Separation Program" that they used out at the LA Times for their lay-offs. Because that would have made the Trib people sound like totally cool people. Or assholes, either way!

From Scott Smith:

April 23, 2007

TO: Chicago Tribune Employees

Since the announcement that Tribune will again become a private company through the new ESOP and investment by Sam Zell, there has been lots of healthy interaction about the transaction. This path is clearly in the best interests of all current shareholders, including employees, who today own about 10% of the company. Current retirement benefits are protected and secure, and eligible employees will have substantial future upside potential through the new ESOP. We're committed to active ongoing communications as the steps in the transaction unfold.

As we discussed in the employee town hall meetings, it's now more vital than ever to focus and deliver on our key priorities:

- To distinctly serve changing customer and community needs
- To successfully execute on major current initiatives
- To lead transformation of our media through future bold moves
- To maximize revenue and cash flow
- To be at our best every day to win and grow

Financial Performance

First-quarter revenue for the Chicago Tribune Media Group was down 4% from last year and below our plan, which called for improvement from 2006 trends. In the context of difficult results for the newspaper industry and most traditional media, the results were still disappointing. Clearly we need to better serve customers and generate more sales. We do expect revenue trends to improve as the year progresses, but full year revenue will likely be below last year. Therefore we need to achieve additional expense savings at the same time we focus on revenue growth. We will reduce our planned expenses through a combination of lower newsprint prices, streamlining several aspects of our product mix and processes, and limited staff reductions.

Staff Reductions

Knowing full well that job eliminations are never easy, we are committed to taking these steps as quickly, thoughtfully and fairly as we can. We have already achieved significant compensation savings through attrition and expect that to continue. We will achieve more savings through reduced overtime. In addition, we estimate we will need to reduce actual staffing by up to 100 employees across all departments. These reductions will occur through a combination of involuntary position eliminations and a voluntary separation program. Severance benefits will be provided as follows:

- One week of separation pay for every completed six months of service, with a maximum of 52 weeks and a minimum of 4, to be paid through salary continuation.
- Benefits continuation at active employee rates for the length of separation pay, with a minimum of three months of health-care coverage.
- Outplacement assistance.

We will make decisions on specific job eliminations within the next few weeks. During this time, we will also consider voluntary departures in areas where we can afford to reduce staffing. Not all parts of the company will be eligible. Some of these ineligible areas include certain production, distribution, sales and executive positions. We may decline other volunteer requests based on the company's determination as to how best to achieve its future business objectives.

If, based on your personal and career objectives, you want to be considered for voluntary separation benefits, you will find more information, including the complete list of eligible and ineligible positions, severance details, an application form, and the release and waiver agreement, at http://www.ctc.trb/EVSP2007/. We also encourage you to discuss your interest with your department head. Potential volunteers must submit an application to Human Resources no later than noon on Monday, May 14. Volunteers will be notified if their applications have been accepted no later than the end of May. We will also be making decisions on involuntary separations during this time. The number of these will depend in part on the number of employees who apply for the voluntary program and are accepted.

Key Growth Initiatives

We also must execute more successfully on our growth initiatives: building revenue, aggressively growing interactive, rejuvenating the reach and relationships of the core Chicago Tribune, and expanding our niche businesses.

Our solid progress on circulation and readership is evidence of how we are changing the newspaper every day to engage our audience in new ways. In interactive, the next generation of chicagotribune.com is on schedule for launch later this spring, as is the new version of Metromix. As you know, a weekend edition of RedEye will also be introduced soon, and last week we launched Triblocal, an online and print content service in the west and southwest
suburbs that features content contributed by the community.

The Future

In addition to these initiatives, we are committed to taking bold steps to lead further transformation across all our media, here in Chicago and throughout the company. As the media marketplace changes at an unprecedented pace, so will we. But our fundamental mission and values will not. To repeat just a portion of the excellent editorial that ran the morning after the deal was announced:

"The Tribune isn't going anywhere but forward ...The men and women whose work brings you each day's Tribune are but temporary stewards of journalistic traditions, and values, that we trust will endure for another 60,000 mornings. The mission isn't changing - and likely never will. The way it is fulfilled, though, has changed, expanding from printing press to radio, to television, to the Internet and, someday, to platforms we can't yet imagine ... and into businesses that not only survive, but thrive."

Thanks for your commitment to solve our challenges, both near term and longer term. To do so will require great talent, teamwork and a tremendous sense of urgency to act and achieve for the benefit of all we serve.

Best,
Scott