The former Tribune CEO tells the Wall Street Journal the culture he fostered in nearly three years at Tribune was "inclusive, tolerant, fun, creative and sometimes irreverent, but with a purpose." He calls Lee Abrams' October 11 staff memo with links to some coarse material "careless" and "indefensible." His main regret is that he moved too fast with the changes he wanted to institute at Chicago-based newspaper, TV and radio owner Tribune. As for his recent exit, Michaels says the Tribune board did not ask him to leave, but that "this had become an issue that was distracting", after a widely-read Page 1 New York Times story about an alleged frat-house atmosphere and then the Lee Abrams memo. As for his immediate future, Michaels is thinking about spending some time in Europe. Then, it's wide open: "I may go buy some media, I may go run some media, I don't know." He says "My phone's been ringing. There are a lot of people who look past noise and emotions and look at results."