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Tribune
Annual Meeting Celebrates 20 Years as a Public Company
Highlights
Business Progress, Honors Retired Chairman John Madigan,
Recognizes Employee Accomplishments
Board
Members Re-elected; Board Declares $.12 Per Share Dividend
CHICAGO,
May 12, 2004 --
Tribune Company (NYSE:TRB) celebrated 20 years as a public
company, discussed financial performance, honored retired
Chairman John Madigan, and recognized employee contributions
at today's 2004 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.
"Today we celebrate Tribune's 20 years
of success as a public company, and the value we've created
since our initial public offering in 1983," said Dennis FitzSimons,
Tribune Company chairman, president and chief executive officer.
"Since then, our stock has generated a 16 percent annualized
total return to shareholders, which ranks Tribune in the
top 20 percent of publicly traded companies in the S&P
500 over the last 20 years. We have many reasons to be confident
as we look toward the future."
Tribune Broadcasting President Patrick
Mullen reported on the company's television operations
and said, "2004 should
be another good year, particularly as we progress through
the summer and fall when political spending will tighten
up the overall advertising marketplace."
Jack Fuller, president of Tribune Publishing,
pointed to an improving economy and a rebound in help wanted
advertising as reasons for confidence in 2004. "Improvement
in the economy is creating jobs in all of our newspaper
markets, and jobs drive growth in every other sector,"
said Fuller. "The most
direct effect of this is in our help wanted business."
The meeting also recognized the leadership
of recently retired Chairman John Madigan, who was instrumental
in transitioning Tribune from a private enterprise to a
public company. "John's
contributions to Tribune go far beyond the numbers," said
FitzSimons. "His leadership, dedication and vision have been
an integral part of our success."
The meeting paid special tribute to the Tribune's 4,500
journalists based in the U.S. and around the world and honored
several employees for excellence:
- Tribune Journalism Awards --
Dan Tracy, Orlando
Sentinel senior reporter, received the print journalism
award for a series of stories documenting pervasive problems
in new home construction in Central Florida . The broadcast
journalism award went to a team at WLVI-TV in Boston
. Reporter Terrel Harris, producer-editor Jimmy Clark
and cameraman Stevie Carro won for a series that focused
on recovering drug addicts.
- Tribune Readership Innovation Award --
The Chicago
Tribune's RedEye edition was honored for
increasing readership among younger readers. General
manager John O'Loughlin, and editors Jane Hirt and Joe
Knowles won the award for their leadership at the newspaper.
The company also presented its highest honors, the Tribune
Management Award and the Tribune Values Award. This year's
winners are:
- Tribune Management Award --
Steve Brooks, Chicago
Tribune director of regional advertising, won for
championing the implementation of a zoning strategy to
better serve readers and advertisers.
- Tribune Values Award -- The
Baltimore Sun's Lenora
Howze, vice president of advertising, Annie Hager, director
of local retail advertising, and Deborah Bennett, director
of sales development were honored for the teamwork they
displayed during the implementation of a new advertising
program targeted to customer needs.
In other business at the meeting, shareholders re-elected
Jeffrey Chandler, William Osborn and Kathryn Turner to three-year
terms on the board of directors. Shareholders also ratified
the selection of PricewaterhouseCoopers as independent accountants
for
Tribune for 2004 and approved amendments to the 1997
Tribune Company Incentive Compensation Plan. At its regularly scheduled meeting earlier in the day, Tribune's
board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $.12
per share on the common stock of the company. The dividend
will be paid on June 10, 2004 , to shareholders of record
at the close of business on May 27, 2004.
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TRIBUNE (NYSE: TRB) is one of
the country’s premier
media companies, operating businesses in broadcasting and
publishing. It reaches more than 80 percent of U.S. households
and is the only media organization with television stations,
newspapers and websites in the nation’s top three markets.
In publishing, Tribune operates 14 leading daily newspapers
including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Newsday
and Spanish-language Hoy, plus a wide range of targeted publications.
The company’s broadcasting group operates 26 television
stations; Superstation WGN on national cable; WGN-AM in Chicago;
and the Chicago Cubs baseball team. Popular news and information
websites complement Tribune’s print and broadcast properties
and extend the company’s nationwide audience. |
