Tribune Co. gets ink for funny press releases

Media giant breaks the press release mold with humor.

Media giant breakes the press release mold with humor

“Another freaking Clear Channel Communications executive on the payroll and this one’s been named President of Tribune Interactive … Last December, [Sam] Zell hired [Randy] Michaels—who helped Zell to build Clear Channel into a radio behemoth that he could then sell—to oversee Tribune’s broadcast and Internet divisions. It is obvious Michaels has lost his mind with this hire.”

No, it’s not a snotty blog post about the Tribune Company—it’s from an actual press release from the company’s own media relations office at its Chicago headquarters. And no, Tribune VP of corporate communications Gary Weitman hasn’t lost his marbles. The press release about the recent hiring of Marc Chase as president of Tribune Interactive, and several recent releases, have broken the press release mold.

Why did the Tribune Company make the risky move away from the standard (and admittedly boring) tone of business press releases and turn them into comedy set pieces? Weitman, who joined the company in 2000, explains.

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