Randy's Guns Start Leaving Trib

Clear Channel-Jacor contingent clearing out of Tribune Co.

Tribune Interactive President Marc Chase, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Jeff Kapugi and Executive Vice President Carolyn Gilbert — longtime associates of Randy Michaels, who resigned as Tribune Co. chief executive last month — are leaving the company, sources said.

According to The Chicago Tribune, Gilbert and Kapugi confirmed their departures from Tribune Co.'s digital division Monday. Chase could not be reached for comment. A Tribune Co. spokesman declined to comment.

Chase, Kapugi and Gilbert are among the first and highest ranking of Michaels' Jacor and Clear Channel Communications colleagues to leave Tribune Co. since a four-member executive council replaced Michaels on Oct. 22. They will not be alone, sources indicated.

John Phillips, a former on-air Clear Channel radio traffic reporter, plans to leave his post as director of facilities in Tribune Tower, home to the company's headquarters as well as its flagship newspaper, the Chicago Tribune.

Betsy Phillips, another former Clear Channel employee, who is married to John Phillips, is exiting her position as a vice president in sales for Tribune Broadcasting, sources said.

It was John Phillips who posted Facebook photos of an after-hours poker party that Michaels hosted in the former office of longtime Tribune leader Col. Robert R. McCormick. The Facebook posting included captions noting that the players "pretty much desecrated it with gambling, booze and cigars."

That contributed to the image of a "frat house" atmosphere at Tribune Co. under Michaels, which, in the end, undercut his ability to lead the company, which is trying to steer itself out of bankruptcy for the last 22 months.

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