What Conflict of Interest? Villaraigosa Dating Another Reporterette

I love the reaction of the suits at KTLA to the news that Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is schtupping yet another local newscaster.

A Los Angeles television reporter is dating Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, about two years after his extramarital affair with another local newscaster led to the breakup of his 20-year marriage.

KTLA-TV Channel 5 reporter Lu Parker, a former Miss U.S.A., has been dating Villaraigosa since March, station officials confirmed Monday. On Sunday, while working as a weekend anchor, Parker announced a story about the likelihood of Villaraigosa running for governor in 2010.

"Now that we're aware of the relationship, she will no longer be covering local politics," said KTLA-TV news director Jason Ball, who defended the journalist's ethics but declined to elaborate. "I have the utmost faith in Lu Parker's abilities."

So she's banging the guy for at least three months and they're only aware of it now? Yeah, sure sounds like she's the objective reporter to have faith in.

"There is no concern as to the ethics whatsoever," said Don Corsini, general manager of KTLA-TV, which like The Times is owned by Tribune Co. "As far as I'm concerned, it's a personal matter."

Well, since the LA Times doesn't have any ethics, it's no surprise a station owned by the same company ignores them as well.

What a joke these people are.

Parker's own website contains a video clip of her interviewing Villaraigosa on election night in November about President Obama's election. Her site also includes a photograph of her interviewing Villaraigosa for another story.

During KTLA-TV's 6:30 p.m. newscast Sunday, Parker read a story about doubts raised about Villaraigosa's potential bid for governor.

Villaraigosa's affair with Telemundo KVEA-TV Channel 52 reporter and anchor Mirthala Salinas in 2007 also raised a conflict-of-interest question and created a firestorm of publicity that tainted his first term in office.

During his successful campaign for reelection this year, Villaraigosa continually apologized for the affair.

Salinas, who as a political reporter had covered such mayoral initiatives as his effort to gain control of the Los Angeles Unified School District, later quit after she was suspended for two months and reassigned by Telemundo to the station's Riverside bureau.

Chicago Tribune Near Bankruptcy

I suspect this is just the tip of the iceberg. Can't be long until the newspapers are lining up for their bailout money.

Tribune has hired bankruptcy advisers as the ailing newspaper company seeks to stave off a potential bankruptcy filing, people briefed on the matter said.

The newspaper, which was taken private last year by billionaire investor Samuel Zell, has hired the investment bank Lazard and the law firm Sidley Austin, these people said. Tribune has been hobbled by debt related to that sale last year, which has been compounded by the growing drought of advertising for newspapers.

It is only the latest — and biggest — sign of duress for the newspaper industry yet. Several newspaper companies have struggled to cope with declining revenues and mounting debt woes.

Declining revenue, mounting debt woes, and readers fleeing in droves due to the relentlessly liberal slant.

It's not as if this is anything new. Over the years countless papers have failed and/or wound up merging with others. The print newspaper industry is dying and there's no turning back.

Tribune Company Plans to Dump Associated Press, Also Facing Default

Of course they'll just pick up another biased wire service and will still present the news in typical left-slanted fashion, but this could help usher the demise of newspapers just a bit more. While these companies clearly have financial issues, they refuse to realize their own bias is also a huge problem.

Tribune Company has given a two-year notice to the Associated Press that its daily newspapers plan to drop the news service, becoming the first major newspaper chain to do so since the recent controversy over new rates began.

Tribune, which owns nine daily papers including the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, joins a growing list of newspapers that have sought to end AP contracts, or given notice of that, following plans to introduce a new controversial rate structure in 2009. The notice was given earlier this week.

AP Spokesman Paul Colford confirmed the cancellation notice, but said he had no more specifics. He issued the following statement about it:

"We understand that in this climate a lot of newspapers are re-examining their strategies. The Associated Press will continue to work with all members of the cooperative to ensure that we are providing the most efficient, valued and essential news service for them."

The notice, of course, does not mean Tribune is cutting AP immediately. The news cooperative requires the two-year notice as part of its current contracts. Negotiations may lead to the termination not moving forward.

Tribune Spokesman Gary Weitman did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday as he is traveling. The notice comes less than a year after Sam Zell, an AP board member, took control of Tribune.

Tribune daily papers besids the flagship in Chicago affected include The Sun Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; The Orlando Sentinel; Red Eye of Chicago; the Hartford Courant; The Baltimore Sun; The Morning Call of Allentown, Pa.; and The Daily Press of Newport News, Va.

In no small irony, the Tribune Company may be facing much larger problems.

Sam Zell saw opportunity in the Tribune Cowhen he took it private in April 2007, giving employees a majority stake in the debt-heavy company.

But now he's looking at a potential default. Zell has been slashing pages and staff at the company's papers around the country, including the Chicago Tribune and LA Times, and looking to sell the Chicago Cubs and other non-core assets.

But is it enough? Wednesday Fitch Ratings released a report saying "default (not necessarily bankruptcy) is a real possibility." Fitch's outlook on the company is "Negative," it's current rating on Tribune's IDR "CCC".

For months years now I've been reporting on the sector challenges facing the newspaper industry, and for the last few months, the cyclical downturn in advertising has really taken its toll. Fitch points out that Tribune's classified ads are showing double digit declines (real estate classifieds down more than 40 percent). And now with the economic downturn, Tribune and Zell no longer have a cushion. There are a few things working in Zell's favor: the non-core assets he plans to sell, like the Cubs, would provide a key infusion of liquidity.