This Crain’s Business report on Tribune gives the clearest picture yet of the company’s current financial situation and of what the company will look like when it emerges from bankruptcy — as a profitable firm. (Note: you may have to register, for free, to view the story.)

Here’s an excerpt:

The new shareholders [who got board seats and equity instead of debt repayment], including New York-based J. P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. of North Carolina, will want a growth strategy that boosts share values and enables them to cash out, just like the former public shareholders who pushed for the sale to Mr. Zell. That’s a tough assignment in a media industry that hasn’t improved much since the bankruptcy filing two years ago.