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Sam Zell Cleaning House
"Scott C. Smith is stepping down as publisher of The Chicago Tribune and president of Tribune Publishing as part of changes being made by Samuel Zell." [Times]
"Scott C. Smith is stepping down as publisher of The Chicago Tribune and president of Tribune Publishing as part of changes being made by Samuel Zell." [Times]
journalismism
Sam Zell To Chainsaw Tribune Papers
Tribune CEO Sam Zell famously cursed one of his journalists earlier this year when asked whether refocusing the company would undermine serious journalism. He called such thinking "classic... journalistic arrogance." But now Zell is struggling to service $12.8 billion in debt amid a weak economy, and he's planning what sounds like mass layoffs and newsprint reductions to meet the challenge. The cuts would fall hardest on the journalists who produce the least output — just the sort of emphasis on quantity over quality once-supportive reporters and editors at the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Orlando Sentinel are likely to abhor: More »
memos
Sam Zell Can Laugh At Self, State of Journalism
Tribune Co. owner and noted asshole Sam Zell's most charming feature might be his sense of humor. Forget about all the cutbacks at the L.A. Times and how he's trying to drop Newsday: He enjoyed the video a Chicago Tribune intern did for the rival Chicago Sun-Times mocking Zell for selling the naming rights to Wrigley Field. That's leadership! Memo after the jump via L.A. Observed.More »
Religion and Politics
What Would Jesus Kill?
I tuned into "The McLaughlin Group" this morning all giddy about the prospect of panelist and Chicago Tribune writer Clarence Page (who is black) getting into a sweet shout-off with MSNBC talker Patrick Buchanan over Buchanan's recent column calling for blacks to show some "gratitude" for the way America has treated them. But moderator John McLaughlin threw me a Christian curveball for Easter, asking his guests, "Would Jesus support the death penalty?" More »
dateline: chicago
Adorable Midwestern City Has Own Newspaper Feud
Everything I know about Chicago, I learned from This American Life. There was one episode where they said that bridges in Chicago smell like chocolate! (That may no longer the case.) Chicago, despite not being New York, still has its very own media intrigue. Their Sun-Times recently held a video contest to make fun of Sam Zell, who owns the rival Chicago Tribune, for selling the naming rights of Wrigley Field. The winning entry was made by a Tribune intern. Awkward! She'll donate her $1,000 prize to charity. Maybe she should consider the charity called Tribune Co., which earned $160 million less in the fourth quarter this year than it did last year during the same period. Attached, some second-city smack talk and her winning entry.
sex wars
Warring Couple Communicates Through Advice Columns
In late January, a widowed man asked Slate's "Dear Prudence" about his prudish gal-friend: he wanted to sleep "in the nude" with her, citing the "intimacy" of said experience. She, on the other hand, felt the exact opposite. Today, in the Chicago Tribune's "Ask Amy" column, the exact same question was posed — this time, from the woman's perspective! Is each half of this couple reaching out, through an advice column? Or is someone pulling a fast one on the Tribune? (Based on the nearly-identical wording, we think that's the case!) Click for matching his n' hers letters. More »
trendsquatting
In Case You Thought About Growing A Beard, Watch This
To celebrate the return of the beard (I know), the Chicago Tribune interviewed the sketchiest bearded men they could find. "Meeting people and rubbing your fuzzies on them is an extra hello," according to one guy with a half-grown-in beard who'd just finished plucking phone numbers from a Help Wanted board. During the entire interview, the cameras center on the beards, presumably to protect the men's identities while the child molestation charges blow over. That cinematography choice takes this two-minute clip (shown below) from dumb to priceless. More »
things that go unsaid
"He Never Acted Like He Was From 'The New York Times'"
It's amazing how "He never acted like he was from The New York Times" seems to be a high sort of compliment you can pay a fella! That comes from today's obit of Douglas Kneeland in the Chicago Tribune; he was an editor at the Trib from '81 to '93, after spending 22 years at the NY Times. So reading this has a sense of: Oh, someone finally said it! This thing happens to some people—not all! Not at all all!—where their life's ambition is to work at the Times because it is The Top Of The Heap, and why not, people are ambitious, and obviously these people are often very smart and extremely skilled, and then they get there and they find out that in many ways it is just a job and has workplace issues just like any other workplace and then this slightly warped thing happens over some time as they think "Okay, so what now?" and "Is that all there is?" and they become a little hostile/defensive/wary/bossy?
Douglas Kneeland: 1929 - 2007 [Chicago Tribune, via Romenesko]
media
Media Bubble: Everything's Gone Green
internet
Today in Old Media Hand-Wringing: The Internet Is Gonna Be Big
• A discovery at Conde Nast: It's a good thing for print magazines to also have websites! "You gain a broader audience and more loyalty from your subscribers if you extend the experience into the Web," says Advance.net president Steven Newhouse. Who knew? More »
chicago tribune
Chelsea Clinton: you gotta love her [Chicago Tribune via Obscure Store]
"I love Chelsea Clinton"
A Chicago Tribune writer explains why Chelsea Clinton has a special place in her heart: "She had every excuse in the book to rebel: Stuck in the limelight at an early, awkward age; incessant teasing from powerful people; private-school friends with money to burn; a father with a penchant for women close to her age. Instead, she took it all in stride...I envision the Bush girls graduating from college and becoming bartenders at Coyote Ugly. They remind me of the girls who did sail through adolescence with smooth skin and well-behaved hair, the ones elected to homecoming court. When they were staying after school for pompom practice, the Chelseas of the world were staying after for Latin Club. I love it that it paid off."Chelsea Clinton: you gotta love her [Chicago Tribune via Obscure Store]
