In a Thursday conference call with reporters, Tribune Co. Chairman and CEO Sam Zell indicated that the employee-owned company ? owner of The Chicago Tribune, The Sun, several other dailies and 23 broadcast stations ? likely would soon be cutting editorial content and assessing reporter productivity in order to increase earnings.

 “We are actively pursuing a program to right-size our newspapers,” said Chief Operating Officer Randy Michaels, who outlined a series of innovations and efficiencies to increase sales, reduce company costs and lower its $10.6 billion debt.