Tribune shakes things up even more

Tribune Publishing, the newspaper company that has recently undergone top leadership changes, said Wednesday the editors at its newspapers will assume the additional role of publisher, removing the traditional functional barrier that kept editorial operations apart from the business side.

Tribune Publishing Chairman Michael Ferro also said he’s donating another newspaper he owns, the Chicago Sun-Times, to a charitable trust. The Sun-Times is owned separately by Ferro and is not part of Tribune Publishing, which owns the Los Angeles

Times, the Chicago Tribune and nine other dailies.

Tribune Publishing also revealed Wednesday it swung to $77,000 of net loss in the fourth quarter of 2015, compared with $15.5 million of profit a year ago, as expenses rose.

Last month, Ferro paid $44.4 million for a 16.6% stake in Tribune Publishing, becoming its single largest shareholder. He then assumed the non-executive chairmanship of its board and began implementing changes in hopes of reinvigorating the struggling company. Ferro replaced CEO Jack Griffin with Ferro’s longtime business associate, Justin Dearborn.

Those given the additional title of publisher, effective immediately, are: Davan Maharaj of the Los Angeles Times; Bruce Dold of the Chicago Tribune; Howard Saltz of the Sun-Sentinel (Broward County, Fla.); Jeff Light of The San Diego Union-Tribune; Avido Khahaifa of the Orlando Sentinel; Trif Alatzas of The Baltimore Sun; Andrew Julien of the Hartford Courant; Dave Erdman of The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.); and Marisa Porto of the Daily Press (Newport News, Va.).