Rep Waxman says he's still concerned about Tribune newspaper spinoff

Rep Henry A. Waxman (D-CA), after a 30-minute meeting with Tribune Company Chief Executive Peter Liguori, said he still was concerned about the company's plans to spin off the Los Angeles Times and seven other newspapers into a separate unit.

Rep Waxman had requested the face-to-face discussion after a meeting last month between his staff and Tribune executives failed to ease his worries that the newspapers would be hobbled financially after the spinoff. "I expressed to him my concern that they not leave the LA Times and the other newspapers with inadequate funding," Rep Waxman said. "We discussed how they're handling the pensions and how they're handling the debt." Rep Waxman said Liguori told him in their meeting that Tribune executives "haven't made firm decisions yet." "He said he too wants to make the LA Times and the other newspapers viable, and he had different ways he was looking at that he thought would be helpful," Rep Waxman said. "We're looking to see if it really is going to work." Liguori said the meeting, which also included Tribune General Counsel Edward Lazarus, was constructive.