So who the *#% & $+ wants to know?

I'm not sure if this reached outside journalism gossip blogs last week, but some of the subsequent coverage has amused me, so...

After billionaire Sam Zell bought out the Tribune Co. (L.A. Times, Orlando Sentinel, etc.), he visited the newsrooms and spoke to the employees at each newspaper. Standing behind a podium, speaking to the hundreds of Sentinel employees, he called for questions. Then he said "fuck you" to a photographer who asked a question.

It went something like this:

The photographer asked where the paper's coverage was headed.

Zell said reporters should focus on what readers want in order to make more money for the paper.

The photographer said, readers want "puppy dogs" rather than real information.

Zell responded, "you're giving me the classic... journalistic arrogance of deciding that puppies don't count." He continued by saying if they cover the local puppies well then maybe the paper can generate enough revenue to cover puppies in Iraq.

Then the photographer supposedly started to walk away as he was excoriating her for "elitism" and Zell he added, "fuck you."

You can also view the full video here, complete with a synopsis and comments if you're interested. (If you do, I would also recommend you take a few minutes to scroll down to the reader comments -- they range from

"I throw a secret fuck you into conversations all the time, thankfully with no video evidence.
Fuck you."

to

"TECHNICIAN (into earpiece)
Mr. Zell, your microphone is hot.
ZELL (annoyed)
What?
TECHNICIAN
Your microphone sir, it's on.
ZELL
Fuck you!
TECHNICIAN
Sir, your mic is hot. Please, say nothing more, lest you disgracethyself courtesy of the Internet, prompted by an innocuous query froma photog, of all people.
ZELL (flamboyantly, like Nathan Lane in "The Birdcage")
FuuuUUUUck... yOOOOOOUUUUUUU!

Anyway, this generated all kinds of responses in the world of journalism gossip, and then continued to generate responses about the responses.

The initial coverage in the mainstream papers said Zell responded to the photographer's question with "a two-word profanity," which prompted bloggers/columnists/everyone else to say this type of coverage is why people seek their news on the Internet rather than newspapers.

The reason I'm finally blogging about it is this L.A. Times opinion piece, which ran yesterday. Its headline is "So who the *#% & $+ wants to know?" and it continues to get better from there. My favorite part:

Seriously, Spring Street: a "two-word obscenity?" What on Earth did Zell say? "Darn tootin'? " "God dammit?" (Or is that one word?) "Mitt Romney?"