David Carr and Dan Neil on the Randy Michaels settlement
I asked David Carr, whose Oct. 2010 New York Times story exposed Randy Michaels’ shenanigans, to comment on Tribune’s $675,000 payout to its former CEO. Carr wrote in an email:
I’m sure there are some expedient reasons that the TribCo chose to pay Mr. Michaels $675,000 and cover his legal fees, but it sends a clear, bad message to the women and men at the company who continue to do their jobs well in spite of the overhang of bankruptcy process that has gone on far too long.
Dan Neil, who was lead plaintiff in a federal lawsuit against the trustee for Tribune’s employee stock ownership plan, tells me:
I suppose I’m beyond being horrified by anything having to do with Zell and his corporate crony creeps. Michaels is a guy who gets up early in order to have extra time to say and do stupid things. He is a shameless pig and was a singularly pathetic executive, the master of disaster. Please point to the exceptional performance for which he is being rewarded with a “bonus.”
The company basically had the choice of paying him the full amount due — close to $900,000, I believe, or settling for this amount. A court battle would have cost the company more money.
The damage was done long ago when this fool, like too many others, was brought in to spout nonsense. He and his buddy Abrams were chanting the usual, superficial stuff about page design, etc., and a lot of people were eating it up. They thought it would work and claimed it was working.
I thought it was Rob Feder that first exposed Michaels’ idiotic & disgusting ways.
The NYT just went out & used Feder’s media column from his site & expanded the info.
Feder himself gives credit to the NYT in one of his articles.
I’d provide the link, but the comments section is filled with victory laps from journos who hid in the corner and/or praised the “innovation” of Michaels/Abrams until they were no longer in power.