Chandlers in the way, again

The Wall Street Journal fronts a story on opposition to the Tribune Company's stock buyback gambit from an unusual source—the three representatives of the Chandler family who sit on the Tribune board as a result of their role in selling Times Mirror and the Los Angeles Times to the Chicago interests. The Chandler family trusts are the second-biggest holders of Tribune stock, and a showdown looms, the WSJ says in the story for subscribers only. There has been talk that the Chandlers also are behind some of the financial pressures on Tribune management to cut costs at the Times and elsewhere to raise the stock price.

And in Variety: Columnist Brian Lowry, a former Times staffer, writes that "Since acquiring Times Mirror in 2000, Tribune's grandiose agenda of wedding local TV and newspapers in major cities hasn't delivered two-plus-two-equals-five dividends, largely because the two media speak completely different languages....Whatever the reason, Tribune never bridged the culture gap between TV and newspapers, just as it was unable to capitalize on its powerful TV station group to launch syndicated hits. Instead, the stations mostly snubbed Tribune's offerings while buying series from outside suppliers."

Update: Tribune responds