You make it sound like lifestyle editors can just switch jobs to a better publication with a snap of their fingers. Also, it was probably not all bad from their point of view.
With all the drama surrounding newsrooms at odds with their penny pinching ownership, you'd think there would be more movements for the entire staff of a news agency to walk out entirely and just up and start a coop, working exactly as they were previously only without Tribune or whoever stepping on their neck. It's not like many are being paid great as it is so they wouldn't be taking much of an impact to their bottom line, plus over time maybe they'd end up making more with profit sharing agreements.