| 1.   | I      have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Tribune      Company; |
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| 2.   | Based      on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain any untrue      statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to      make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such      statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by      this quarterly report; |
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| 3.   | Based      on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information      included in this quarterly report, fairly present, in all material      respects, the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of      Tribune Company as of, and for, the periods presented in this quarterly      report; |
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| 4.   | Tribune      Company’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing      and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange      Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial      reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for      Tribune Company and have: |
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| a)   | Designed      such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure      controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure      that material information relating to Tribune Company, including its      consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those      entities, particularly during the period in which this quarterly report is      being prepared; |
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| b)   | Designed      such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal      control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to      provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial      reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external      purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting      principles; |
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| c)   | Evaluated      the effectiveness of Tribune Company’s disclosure controls and procedures      and presented in this quarterly report our conclusions about the      effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of      the period covered by this quarterly report based on such evaluation;      and |
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| d)   | Disclosed      in this quarterly report any change in Tribune Company’s internal control      over financial reporting that occurred during Tribune Company’s most      recent fiscal quarter (Tribune Company’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case      of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely      to materially affect, Tribune Company’s internal control over financial      reporting; and |
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| 5.   | Tribune      Company’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most      recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to Tribune      Company’s auditors and the audit committee of Tribune Company’s board of      directors: |
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| a)   | All      significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or      operation of internal control over financial reporting which are      reasonably likely to adversely affect Tribune Company’s ability to record,      process, summarize and report financial information;  and |
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| b)   | Any      fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other      employees who have a significant role in Tribune Company’s internal      control over financial reporting. |
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| Date:       November 10, 2008 | By:    | /s/ Samuel      Zell    |   |
|------------------------------------|--------|------------------------------|--------|
|                               |   | Samuel      Zell             |   |
|                               |   | Chairman,      President and |   |
|                               |   | Chief      Executive Officer |   |