Correction: Tribune-Future Story

Convenience store customers reach for products at a news stand selling the Chicago Tribune, in a file photo from Feb. 1, 2006, in Chicago. Faced by continuing circulation declines at its newspapers and restive shareholders, Tribune Co. has so far rejected calls for a selloff of prize properties while instead shedding select TV stations and buying back its stock. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File) (M. Spencer Green - AP)

-- In a Sept. 19 story about pressures facing the Tribune Co., The Associated Press misstated the number of seats on the company's board of directors held by the Chandler family. The family has three seats, not two.

The story also misstated the background of a quote by Los Angeles Times Editor Dean Baquet that the Tribune Co.'s latest proposed cuts to the editorial staff "go too far." He made the comment in an interview with the paper, rather than writing it. The corrected version appears below.

CHICAGO (AP) _ Faced with circulation declines at its newspapers and with restive shareholders, pressure may be growing on media conglomerate Tribune Co. to take drastic action to boost a lagging stock price.

Tribune has so far rejected calls for a sell-off of prize properties. Instead, it has been shedding select TV stations and buying back its stock. Ahead of a Tribune board meeting Thursday, industry experts said the company is likely to stick to that strategy for now rather than accede to the demands of outsiders who don't have big ownership stakes to back them up.

If results don't improve, however, Tribune may ultimately have to reconsider its refusal to auction off such rich assets as the Los Angeles Times, its entire broadcast group or the Chicago Cubs.

"Unless there is a real shareholder uprising, Tribune management can take its time to find a solution that meets everybody's objectives," said Edward Atorino, an analyst with Benchmark Co. "Any serious effort to restructure this company, if there is one, is likely to be in '07."

But Tribune, he noted, is "a long way from turning the corner."

The company isn't seen as likely to alter the strategy it outlined in May until it untangles complex partnerships with the dissident Chandler family, its largest single shareholder. The partnerships create major tax implications for both sides with every transaction, and unraveling them will be costly. Morgan Stanley analyst Lisa Monaco estimated in a report to investors Monday that Tribune "could be hit with a cash outlay of an estimated $655 million as a result of the dissolution."

The two sides have held talks about ending the partnerships, and The Wall Street Journal reported last week that a settlement is close. Both sides refused comment this week.

Tribune spokesman Gary Weitman declined to answer questions about either the talks with the Chandlers, who hold three board seats, or the company's options.

"We don't comment about reports and speculation," he said.

While an agreement with the Chandlers could remove one roadblock to Tribune's future, new opposition has flared on another front.