Sam Zell: I Am a Breath of Fresh Air

"We are a 24/7 content and information provider that prints once a day for the record."

That's Sam Zell no doubt bringing tears to the eyes of all Tribune Co. journalists on the company's conference call with lenders, which is going on right now.

Of course, Zell says his new underlings love his attitude.

"In the 3,000 emails I've received, all of which I read all of which I answered, perhaps the most common phrase in those emails is, quote, a breath of fresh air," he said. "We are changing the culture, we are changing the environment, and we are changing everyone's goals."

More in a few minutes.

Update, 3:10 p.m.: Zell isn't entirely incapable of censoring himself. Asked by the final questioner what's going on with the Newsday sale, he offered only this non-answer: "As has been previously acknowledged, we have been approached by a number of parties who have a keen interest acquiring Newsday. We have reached no conclusions with anyone at this juncture, and we're discusssing whether it does or doesn't make sense for Tribune Co. going forward."

Similarly, he addressed but didn't really engage with recent speculation that Tribune might not be able to make its interest payments: "From where we sit right now, it does not appear we will have difficulty meeting our commitments going forward."

Meanwhile, Zell's second-in-command, Randy Michaels, talked about inspiring the sales force with new incentives such as a "salesman of the month"-type award, the winner of which would get his picture on a website and maybe a cash prize.

"Sam is the smartest man I've ever met, but he can't solve the revenue problem," said Michaels. "I can't solve the revenue problem. The only people who can solve the revenue problem are the people out there on the streets who can decide whether to make another call at 4 o'clock or not."

By the way, Tribune issued another "wacky" press release announcing new hires today. Thankfully, it's not quite as zany as the last one.