Tribune Co. — owner of the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun and other dailies — filed for bankruptcy protection Dec. 8, the first major newspaper publisher to take such a step since the Internet plunged the industry into a desperate struggle for survival.

Sam Zell AP PHOTO

The media conglomerate was smothered by a drop-off in advertising and a crushing $13 billion in debt from the company"s takeover just under a year ago by Chicago real estate mogul Sam Zell.

Bankruptcy protection would buy the Tribune Co. time to put its finances in order. Analysts said the company will almost certainly have to sell off some of its major holdings — and that could prove extremely difficult because of the bad economy and the poor outlook for newspapers.

"When you look at the near term, prospects for the company and the industry are certainly not very bright," said Dave Novosel, an analyst with the Gimme Credit research firm.

Tribune Co. employees, who received an ownership stake in the company when Zell came in, could also see the value of their holdings wiped out.

Tribune Co., which has 20,000 employees, owns Major League Baseball"s Chicago Cubs as well as 10 daily newspapers, cable TV channels and 23 TV stations. Its papers' total circulation of more than 2 million puts the Tribune Co. among the top three most-read U.S. newspaper groups. (Zell said the Cubs are not part of the bankruptcy filing.)

To make a debt payment this year, the Tribune Co. sold the Long Island daily Newsday to Cablevision Systems Corp. for $650 million.