Perhaps Sam Zell realized his troubled new company needs a full-time boss, or maybe he just tired of his newspaper toys after a few months in charge. Whatever, executive VP Randy Michaels today was named Tribune Company chief executive operating officer, "responsible for all aspects of the company’s publishing, broadcasting and interactive divisions." This means that L.A. Times Publisher David Hiller now reports to Michaels, not Zell. This time there was no gag press release or frat-boy humor, just a terse announcement from Zell and a quip from Micheals that "people are saying ‘newspapers are dead'...so, naturally, I want to take on even more responsibility for our print business." WSJ, Chicago Tribune, E&P

New Zell-watching blog: Tell Zell claims to be written, anonymously, by a "loyal Los Angeles Times peon....most of the time." It parses the latest from innovation guru Lee Abrams.