Warren Beatty gets OK to sue TribCo over Dick Tracy

Academy-award winning actor Warren Beatty can go ahead with a California lawsuit against a unit of bankrupt Tribune Co. over rights to comic strip detective Dick Tracy, a federal judge ruled on Monday.

According to court papers, Beatty bought the motion picture and television rights for Dick Tracy in 1985. He went on to star in and direct the 1990 film by the same name that won three Academy awards and also starred Dustin Hoffman, Madonna and Al Pacino.

Tribune has said an agreement that granted rights to Beatty had lapsed because the actor-director had not started work on a new project based on the character. [Click for MORE]

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Harold Evans on the Colbert Report

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Harold Evans
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor U.S. Speedskating

Harold Evans, former editor of the Times of London and the Sunday Times, talks about being married to Tina Brown, getting knighted by the queen and exposing spies in the British government. Sphere: Related Content

The L.A. Herald Examiner -- 20 Years Gone

Nov. 2 is the 20th anniversary of the closing of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. See http://herex0.tripod.com/

• See also 20 years ago: 'So Long, L.A.!'

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Sam Zell: No Newspapers Can Survive

When posed with the question of whether or not he regrets his Tribune deal, Sam Zell admitted, "It's certainly the most amount of money I ever lost in a single deal."

He goes on to say that the entire newspaper industry, including Tribune, has seen a crash in revenue, and that "nobody can survive." -- Silicon Alley Insider

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Video: Inventing LA -- The Chandlers and their Times

The film chronicles the epic saga of the most powerful family in Los Angeles history: the Chandlers. For four generations, they wielded unique influence through their newspaper, the Los Angeles Times. [Click to VIEW] Sphere: Related Content

News Co-op Gets Chicago Launch

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This Just In -- I'll Now Work My Own Prompter

The day's news may soon rest in the hands -- and quite possibly on the feet -- of newscasters at WTTG, Channel 5, in Washington.

In a bid to save money, the station is planning to reassign the technicians who operate the electronic prompters that feed scripted news copy to the anchors while they're on the air. Instead, the station wants its anchors to do the job themselves.

WTTG, known as Fox5, intends to train its newscasters to operate prompters using a series of hand levers and foot pedals, all while they're reading the news as it scrolls by.

Some at the station worry that such a roll-your-own system could increase the potential for on-camera blunders, as anchors fumble for the right spot in their scripts. They also say that viewers may notice some awkward cranking and pumping beneath the anchor desk. [Click for MORE] Sphere: Related Content