TRIBUNE CO. SETS MEETING UNIONIST PREDICTS 'NEWS' DEMISE.(Local)

Byline: United Press International

The fate of the strike-crippled Daily News may hinge on action taken at an upcoming meeting of the board of its Chicago-based parent Tribune Co., a union official said Saturday.

The company scheduled a Dec. 11 board of directors meeting at which the future of the News, once the nation's largest-circulation newspaper, is expected to be high on the agenda, according to Barry Lipton, president of the Newspaper Guild, representing the News' striking editorial employees.

"I surmise the meeting might trigger the shutdown of the News," Lipton said. "There is no circulation, all of the major advertisers have left, whatever …