Triangulating on Tribune

Tribune (TRB Quote) shares rose Wednesday as investors reconsidered the prospect that the media giant will be sold.

Tribune said last week it would borrow a bunch of money to buy back a huge chunk of stock. Chairman Dennis FitzSimons called the plan a way to refocus on growth, but investors wondered if management wasn't simply trying to entrench itself against restless shareholders. The Tribune tribulations come in the wake of this spring's forced sale of newspaper rival Knight Ridder (KRI Quote).

Now, with the three Tribune board members from the big-shareholding Chandler family signaling they don't like FitzSimons' $2 billion plan, media investors are wondering if Tribune isn't being pushed onto the auction block -- regardless of what management might like. ...