Tribune Publishing names its editors as publishers, too

CHICAGO (AP) — Tribune Publishing's new chairman pressed ahead Wednesday with his rapid reshuffling of leadership ranks at the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and its other major U.S. newspapers, combining the roles of editors and publishers and declaring an ambition to build "the largest global audience on all mediums."

The reorganization comes about a month after Chicago investor and technology entrepreneur Michael W. Ferro Jr. took over as non-executive chairman upon delivering a $44.4 million cash infusion to Tribune Publishing.

Wednesday's announcement about eliminating the separate role of publisher was cast as an effort to put that responsibility into the hands of editors who are familiar with their communities and are able to maintain journalistic integrity while driving the business forward.

The longstanding division of roles is the media world is meant to keep business interests from influencing editorial decisions, but with the shrinking of the traditional media industry in the digital age there is more of a blurring of that line, said Alan Mutter, who runs the Newsosaur blog and teaches at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley.

Tribune Publishing will also begin offering print subscribers free unlimited access to digital content by April, and announced the departure of Denise Warren, who headed Tribune Publishing's digital operations.