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

Fuck you.

Does he have Tourette's?

He has the voice, demeanor and look of a panhandler at the Port Authority, so yeah, in that context it makes a bit more sense.

@mepo: I swear, I've done this before. Didn't think I ever got busted but now I'm not sure. {fuck you, too}

Well, you can disguise it to sound sort of like 'thank you,' but not with a big microphone in front of you, as it turns out.

Oh, I'm talking? Out loud? Thought I was just thinking.

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 disgrace
thyself courtesy of the Internet,
prompted by an innocuous query from
a photog, of all people.

ZELL (flamboyantly, like Nathan Lane in "The Birdcage")
FuuuUUUUck... yOOOOOOUUUUUUU!

He wants to do puppies in Iraq? Oh man, I lurves context! And misquoting rich jerks!

Whoever sold him that shirt kind of said the same thing, only a little louder.

It just makes me love him even more.

@KarenUhOh:

"See my chesticles? I unbuttoned the top two for you, Sara Fajrardo! And this is how you repay me?"

I do prefer the ornery rich to the effete rich.

Once again, I find myself mystified by the ultra-rich. Why isn't he addressing his minions via bullhorn from the gondola of a gold lamé zeppelin? Where is his retinue of supermodel ninja bodyguards?!!!11!1

Mr. Zell Shoutgasms His Media Money Shot

I think he meant, "I wanna fuck you."

My editor said his yearly "fuck you" with a 3% raise, while noting that I'm still very, very eligible for a hefty EITC.

When you're a billionaire you get to insult journalists and decide that puppies count, dammit!

It's one of the perks of the job. You know, besides being allowed to wear unbuttoned shirts despite an aging old-man skin.

I think maybe the guy has Tourettes

Here at the Los Angeles Times Pressroom we have developed sign language to say fuck you in a nice manner, by the tugging of one's right ear lobe. To my surprise, Sam Zell sent a photo of himself, tugging on his right ear lobe last Monday; the picture has been posted on my blog.

I am sorry; I like the guy. Fuck me.

I understand a fury in your words. But not the words. - "Othello", Act 4, Scene 2

what makes this significant as an indicator of something disturbing about this character, whether it is organic or characterological who knows, is that, even though he said it "sotta voce," he did say it facing the mike, his questioner, and the audience. anybody human could have said it as they turned away. this is a different, er, animal.

As reported, good ol' Sam drops f-bombs the way the Nazis blitzed London. It's his way of relating to the masses -- he's just one of the guys. Whatever. God knows newspaper folk are familiar with the expletive, but it was so frequent at his Orlando Sentinel howdy fest, it made most of the crowd, huddled under a large tent, uncomfortable. It was just like listening to a 15-year-old showing off how cool he was with fuck this and fuck that. The crowd wanted to hear his ideas and vision, not his unimaginative teen-age rant.

Any way, big (NOT!!!) ol' Sam has been encouraging his Trib troops to change the old culture, fuck HR and do things differently. He has requested -- almost dared -- employees to challenge authority, ask hard questions, push back when you don't get the answers you deserve, take risks, show cajones -- at least as large as his. (Now that's laughable.) Don't be afraid. It's a new, more open day in The Tower. Ask me anything! E-mail me directly. I read every e-mail and will reply, he promises.

So, when Sara (and how awesome is that? -- a shooter challenges the big guy with a question about content) gets up and asks a perfectly legitimate question, good ol' Sammy disses her right off the bat, berating her for her "journalistic arrogance." But that wasn't enough for ol' Sam. Hell, he's the fucking king of The Tower now.

Rich (as he reminded everyone), good ol' boy Sam wasn't through. Red faced and with contempt dripping off both syllables, he thanks his employee for her interest, curiosity and courage to take on the almighty one with: "Fuck you."

Way to go Sam!!! You certainly encouraged everyone at the Sentinel to take risks, try new things, think new ways or even ask you a fucking question.

So, with that type of encouragement, the Sentinel's HR dept. fell right back into the old culture of circling the wagons and controlling the message by what else?? Lying. When newsroom folks asked why the publisher ordered the video of Sam showing off his true colors taken down , HR replied: "Technical difficulties." Jesus! Like Sam, the HR honchos haven't learned what every news person and child older than 10 knows: Lying is wrong, and it does not grow bigger cahones. Thanks Sam, and thanks HR for trying to cover Sam's sorry ass.

Here's what HR needs to do. Teach Sam that everyone -- from the maintenance worker to the press people to reporters, editors, photographers and even HR types, deserve to be treated with a modicum of respect. It's called common courtesy Sam, and even rich ol' fuckers with no class should learn to dispense it. Zell's behavior is boorish and rude, causing his beleaguered troops to think less of him as a leader, if not a human being.

Sam doesn't owe only Sara an apology. He owes EVERY employee of the Tribune company, particularly the Orlando Sentinel, an apology with a promise that he'll try to do better at setting an example and be something more than an obnoxious, albeit rich, little fuck-head.

Shameful indeed.

Although perhaps some...hmmm...forethought on his comment would have done wonders perhaps, it is...refreshing to hear someone 'honest' enough to challenge the corporate poli-corre mindset.

I happen to like the salty old dog, warts and all. To those that think his comment is off-base and maybe crude, those within the newspaper industry know that this is an exceptionally trying time. If we don't make our numbers, we're going away, and we're have to completely rethink our corporate strategy as well as our role in the 'community.'

Bottom line...we're no longer pet projects by nouveau riche philanthropists that want their viewpoints and opinions to be read by the masses (check out the history of newspapers), and until we get rid of that mindset and understand that we are a business just like any other then we are in trouble.

What you don't see in this video is the fact that Zell has had that question asked of him countless times, and he is not one to repeat himself. A little extreme of an outburst. Yeah. But if we in the newspaper industry don't start thinking out of the box as far as revenue streams and editorial avenues, then having Sam Zell saying the F word to a journalist is going to be least of our problems.

Amazing what you can learn about a fellow-owner CEO in two little words. We found them so meaningful that we played the video clip over and over on our newsroom's large screen TV.

"I'm a journalist..." she says in that patronizing, superior way.

Me too. But I am long past the point where I think I can pretend the economic issues don't have anything to do with me. She would be wise to grow up a little.

(Which doesn't mean she deserved an F-bomb.)

Good for Zell. It's people with that photographers attitude that have contributed to the traditional media's inability so far to change with the times. People like her have an unrealistic sense of entitlement and an out-of-touch snobbery that does not serve their readers and customers well.
She did deserve an F-bomb. She also deserves a pink slip.

Most major TRIB papers were too spineless to post the video. The wimps deserve's Zell's whip. Journalistic Arrogance plus Divine Right Rich Managerial Style add up to serious street cursin'. Next let's mix in some Editorial Incompetence -has SZ involved himself with product quality and customer relations? When he sees how few corrections run compared to the acreage of error that runs daily? That contradiction would get the old guy cursing twice as loudly - and on a more solid footing . . .

The one who deserves the pink slip is Zell, too bad he won't give it to himself.
I can't beleive anyone would praise him for treating someone so badly. It doesn't make him an anti-corporate hero. It makes him a bully and shows some serious character flaws which are probably diagnosable.

He shows a serious lack of judgement and restraint. He clearly can't control himself and has no business in a position of power. For all his talk of being the antithesis of the usual corporate culture, He's exactly like them all. He views workers as beneath him only there to make him money and to be bullyied.
I'm glad someone stood up to him. Too bad he's scared a bunch of others into keeping quiet.

That dude looks like the bad guy in a Scooby Do cartoon. Sam Zell as the crazy old prospector!

Sam Zell's whole life is one big "fuck you." With his billions, he usually gets away with it. He's playing in a different arena now, so he'll have to start showing some social graces.

Most of us thought he said "thank you''. it was only the camera mic not the P.A. that picked up his volley.
We were aghast that he called Sara an arrogant journalist... she's a sweetie and deserves better for her talent and heart she shows daily.
Maybe Zell can't comprehend that people do this work as a calling, not to make another buck they don't need.
He looks like a sweaty, dying hobbit, btw.

Good for Sam! The arrogance inside the Sentinel and Tribune is enormous. I wonder how long it will take him to give the whole upper management team at the Sentinel the big FU! However long it takes, it won't be quick enough.

So basically Zell has confirmed what he wants for his newspapers....The TMZ'ing of America. I guess I'll have to read PerezHilton to read hard news.

Are there really journalists shocked by Sam Zell saying "fuck you?" What city rooms did they grow up in? What politicians did they cover? "Fuck you," with or without "the horse you rode in on," is a normal conversation trope in our business.
On the merits: The photographer claimed that all the readers want is puppy dogs. Probably not true, even in Orlando. Zell called it right: It's journalistic arrogance to look down on your readers.

Does Zell make a habit of appearing in public attired in his pajamas? Or perhaps his wardrobe assistant suffers from narcolepsy?

@ANEDITOR
Of course newsroom folks are used to "fuck you," but it's all about context . This a was a put-down from one of the richest men in the world who brags that he knows nothing about newspapers. He answered almost everyone's questions in a condescending manner and was vague on specifics.

As for the puppy dog comment, she was right. Thanks to instantaneous metrics on Web sites, the Sentinel found it struck gold last year with this story ([tinyurl.com]) about an 18-ounce, 4-inch tall Chihuahua. That damn dog received the most page views of almost anything else last year. Once top editors in the newsroom saw the hits, the story got moved from B3 to A1. It was a cute brite maybe once, but there were several followups. A spread in People magazine only led to validate the decision to spend so much time and resources on this just days before the Sentinel newsroom was trimmed by 25 journalists. So, call me arrogant, but is this how newspapers are supposed to serve their communities while the crooks in Orlando's City Hall are cutting deals and spending millions of dollars of taxpayer money on a football stadium without a team?

Good on Zell for exposing the false dichotomy here. It's not a choice between puppies and Iraq. It's a question of should we give people what we think is good for them or should we give them what they want to read.

Sure, people like to pass around the picture of the cute puppy. They also want to read about sports and crime and busted water pipes.

Increasingly the choice is between covering things people care about versus covering what local politicians think is important.

Normal readers don't give a damn about local politics until it hits them in the pocketbook or the classroom. But journalists live by it, because covering city hall gives them access and increases their status with people in power.

Readers don't care about the latest scheme from the Underwater Basket Development Commission. They care about things happening right here, right now.

Maybe they don't want to read another story about the breakdown in Iraq, but they sure as hell want to read about the local boy who came home wounded.

Readers click on stories with real content in them. Crime stories, neighborhood problems, national and local emergencies. They care about stuff that is actually happening, and they don't give a damn about empty promises or political pony shows.

They also like to be entertained and forget their troubles for a while, so if that means throwing in a little celebrity gossip alongside a fluff piece about a cute dog, it doesn't mean the end of god damn journalism.

@cutelittledoggie: And if the paper is actually covering the corruption, naming names and laying out facts, the hits will come.

A universal pull like a cute dog will naturally have a broader appeal than a local scandal, but if the journalists are actually out there being journalists, they'll have no trouble getting eyeballs on their work.

But if all they have are vague accusations and two conflicting quotes they got over the phone in 10 minutes, their traffic will suck.

Make the stories relevant and the readers will come. This puppy example is just a lame attempt to dodge the issue. They're throwing up that one popcorn story to distract from the hundreds of man hours wasted on vague, boring shit that nobody read.

For every one cute dog story there are a hundred city council meetings and a dozen half-baked political speeches that didn't deserve the ink it took to cover them.

@NotJaffo: Right on.