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The venerable Nikki Finke over at the NT's sister paper in L.A. has an interesting take on the Zell purchase of the Tribune Co., likening it to a mob takeover, with Zell as Tony Soprano and Tribune CEO Dennis J. FitzSimons playing the role of his new consigliere. She notes that his nickname is the "Grave Dancer," because he made his fortune buying up seemingly dead properties. You know, like Tribune Co. Here's an excerpt:

Someone asked FitzSimons what's "the vision" for the Trib's newspapers under Zell. "Basically, we never got around to discussing a vision for the papers," FitzSimons replied. I'm told a palpable shivver went through the Los Angeles Times newsroom among reporters and editors listening to those words. In all the news about Zell buying Tribune Co., I find this the most troubling. The reason is clear: this was a deal all about money, not about journalism or television or sports or any of the infotainment product that the Trib owns. FitzSimons alone is supposed to pocket $21+ mil. I told ya -- these guys are no better than Tony et al.

Finke made some phone calls to the offices of the Tribune-owned L.A. Times:

Talking to LA Times staff today, I'm hearing

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So a lawyer representing Buddy Nevins sent a letter to me and New Times Friday regarding the Philip Busey article posts. Yeah, Buddy's playing that way now, which I guess means he's definitely retiring from the Sun-Sentinel. His lawyer, by the way, is none other than Christopher Fertig, who is married to Mary Fertig, who is a close friend and co-conspirator of ...

Well, now's not the time or place for that. The point is that in the letter Buddy denied that lobbyist Ali Waldman was the source of the Busey article or had any influence on the writing of it. Well, I have to take him at his word for that, at least for now. And the fact is that I was beginning to have

Remember that exchange between Daily Business Review Law Editor Harris Meyer and Chicago Tribune national correspondent Tim Jones ? Well, the Trib responded appropriately (this actually ran a few days ago, but I missed it):

"A main section story Tuesday on the possibility that serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer may have been involved in the 1981 murder of Adam Walsh neglected to mention that the Miami Daily Business Review published a story on Dec. 4 by Arthur Jay Harris, author of a book that raised questions about the Walsh murder investigation."