Zell banner hanging at L.A. Times

A large banner proclaiming Zell Hell was draped this morning off the corporate parking garage at the Los Angeles Times building in Downtown. It carries a link to TellZell.com, the website that says it's by an anonymous Times staffer. TZ posts:

Is that cool, or what? It's big. It's bold. It's a first step toward prying the LA Times out of the tight, greedy fingers of billionaire Sam Zell.

I've been hearing more speculation inside the newsroom that TellZell is a union astroturf operation, in part because the site pushes Guild and Teamsters meetings aggressively and because some "inside the Times" descriptions have been a bit off. So I asked the anonymous "Sam Izdat," who has been my email contact, whether the blog has any connection to labor. He/she answered for the record: "The blog is not affiliated in any way with any labor groups, organized or otherwise. (Although we do allow guest posts from union people.)"

Also at TZ: Studio city PR man Jack McGrath, the former political consultant, bought a full page ad criticizing Zell in today's Studio City Sun.