Zell still upbeat

On the same day LAT Editor Russ Stanton announced the big newsroom cuts, Tribune CEO Sam Zell was out with another one of his "Partners" memos that outlines all the good stuff going on around the company. Interesting timing. He said that the Orlando Sentinel's bubblegum makeover was getting good reviews among readers (especially young ones), that the LAT political blog, "Top of the Ticket," was generating lots of traffic, and that a fellow at KTLA-TV suggested compiling licensed celebrity videos into a Web site. Here's the memo, via Romenesko. Zell closes this way:

I encourage you all to send in more success stories that reflect how we are going to make Tribune the industry leader on all fronts. So, I ask you, what have you and your team changed lately?

This would be an interesting case study for corporate management types. How exactly do you get the troops fired up in the wake of so much terrible news? I have a sneaking suspicion this “Partners” business isn’t the answer.