Submitted by Steve Hanson on Mon, 12/08/2008 – 1:02pm

The Tribune Company filed for bankruptcy protection
in a federal court in Delaware on Monday, as the owner of The Los
Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Cubs baseball team
struggled to cope with rising debt and falling ad revenue.

Tribune, which was acquired last year by billionaire real estate investor Samuel Zell, had hired bankruptcy advisers like Lazard and the law firmSidley Austin in recent weeks as it negotiated with creditors over debt covenants. (Read the bankruptcy petition here.)