Editor of the Los Angeles Times
Editor of the Los Angeles Times
PROFILE
Jim O'Shea
Guest
FROM Jim O'Shea
Which Way, L.A.?
Dissecting the Deal for the LA Times Yesterday, Sam Zell put up $300 million in a complicated takeover of the Tribune Company of Chicago, which is worth $8.2 billion and includes the Los Angeles Times . Zell, a Chicago real estate billionaire who beat out local billionaires Ron Burkle and Eli Broad , has said almost nothing in public, but local billionaire David Geffen says he still has a chance. In a message to the LA Times newsroom, Editor Jim O'Shea said that, while any change of ownership carries some risk--and this includes a heavy debt burden--Zell is "a creative thinker and an inventive entrepreneur," who says, "he believes in the future of the news business." We hear more about the deal, possible staff cuts and absentee ownership of Southern California’s major news source in a conversation with O'Shea and others.
Recommended
To the Point
The Trump agenda: where's the beef? President Trump says big things are happening. After celebrating a House bill on health care, he doesn’t yet have Senate agreement. With James Comey’s public testimony scheduled tomorrow, the President today tweeted his selection of a new FBI Director. Is the Chief Executive all style and no substance? Later, terror attacks in Iran and conflicting claims about who’s behind them.
To the Point
White House budget proposal slashes and burns President Trump's first budget request is considered dead on arrival in Congress — a familiar development in Capitol Hill. We hear what it reveals about the priorities of the new administration. What's likely to die… and what might survive?
To the Point
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.
To the Point
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?