{"id":13059,"date":"2016-12-26T06:00:50","date_gmt":"2016-12-26T12:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=13059"},"modified":"2016-12-26T06:05:25","modified_gmt":"2016-12-26T12:05:25","slug":"chicago-media-2016-year-tronc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2016\/12\/26\/chicago-media-2016-year-tronc\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago media in review 2016: The year of the tronc"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Michael<\/a>

<\/a> Michael Ferro (Photo: Christopher Michel)<\/p><\/div>\n

For four years as owner of the Sun-Times,<\/a> Michael Ferro failed to deliver on his promises of growth and innovation. While meddling in editorial affairs, selling off the company\u2019s suburban assets and cutting jobs (including the entire photo staff), he wasted millions on ill-conceived digital ventures and other products that tanked. No wonder he had his name removed from the paper\u2019s masthead.<\/p>\n

So what did he do for an encore? In 2016 the ambitious tech entrepreneur bought a piece of Tribune Publishing and maneuvered his way in as chairman. The man who had done nothing to improve the city\u2019s No. 2 newspaper was now calling the shots at the Chicago Tribune<\/a> and the Los Angeles Times, among other dailies.<\/p>\n

Once again Ferro proclaimed a grand vision. He and his minions talked about saving the journalism industry.<\/a> They talked about harnessing artificial intelligence to \u201cfeed journalism into a funnel\u201d <\/a>and create a content portal that would distribute 2,000 videos a day from who-knows-where. They talked about opening bureaus of the L.A. Times in seven \u201cglobal entertainment-oriented cities\u201d \u2014 Hong Kong, Lagos, Mexico City, Moscow, Mumbai, Rio de Janeiro and Seoul.<\/p>\n

\"tronc\"<\/a>

tronc<\/p><\/div>\n

But nothing that Ferro said or did in 2016 aroused more derision than his brainstorm to rename Tribune Publishing \u201ctronc\u201d<\/a> (inexplicably all lower case). Supposedly an acronym for Tribune Online Content, the word also was meant to invoke a British term for the box in which tips are collected at a restaurant. Henceforth the 168-year-old mainstay of American journalism would be defined, according to Ferro, as \u201ca content curation and monetization company focused on creating and distributing premium, verified content across all channels.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sanity threatened to be restored when Gannett, publisher of USA Today, entered the picture with an unsolicited bid for tronc. Ferro resisted, accusing Gannett of \"trying to steal the company\"<\/a> with an offer that would have netted him and other shareholders a huge profit. Talks dragged on for seven months, as newspaper advertising revenues continued to plunge. By the time Ferro agreed to a deal, Gannett found it was no longer able to obtain financing and walked away.<\/p>\n

At year\u2019s end, Ferro continued to loom large. With the purchase of an additional 1.3 million shares of stock,<\/a> he celebrated Christmas with nearly 18 percent of the company in his possession.<\/p>\n

Other top stories on the Chicago media beat in 2016:<\/strong><\/p>\n