Chicago Tribune

Mondo Times editors    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 10:34pm on Saturday, September 12th, 2009

The Chicago Tribune announced on September 9, 2009 that David Haugh has been named lead sports columnist, along with Rick Morrissey.

Haugh is the 17th In the Wake of the News columnist in Tribune's history, continuing a tradition that dates to the beginning of the 20th Century. He joins some of Chicago's great journalists, such as Ring Lardner, Dave Condon, Bob Verdi, Bernie Lincicome, John Husar, Skip Bayless, Mike Downey and, since December 2000, Morrissey.

"David and Rick continue a long line of distinctive voices in the sports report of the Chicago Tribune," said Mike Kellams, Associate Managing Editor, Sports. "David is an extraordinary reporter who has the trait every columnist worth their salt possesses: even if you don't agree, you can't stop reading. I look forward to his continued great work in the years to come."

"I am excited to take on this role and to carry on a rich Tribune tradition, while at the same time doing what I love to do. I am honored to have this opportunity," Haugh said.

Currently, Haugh is the Bears columnist at the Chicago Tribune. Haugh came to the Tribune in February 2003 from the South Bend Tribune, where he was a columnist. He is a graduate of Ball State and Northwestern. He resides in Schererville, Indiana, with his wife Allison and son Blair.

Mondo Times editors    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 1:52pm on Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

The Tribune Company has sold the Chicago Cubs to the Ricketts family for $845 Million, the Chicago Sun-Times reported on August 22, 2009:

"Tribune Co. at last made it official Friday -- it has sold the Cubs to the Ricketts family.

The company said the deal was for $845 million and has Tribune holding on to a 5 percent ownership stake.

The sale includes Wrigley Field and Tribune's 25 percent interest in Comcast SportsNet Chicago.

The price is among the highest paid for a major sports franchise.

But it also shows the effects of the recession. In 2007, the team was worth an estimated $1 billion.

Closing on the sale still requires consents from Major League Baseball and the federal bankruptcy court. The company said it hopes for court approval early in the fourth quarter of the year.

Tribune is in bankruptcy and negotiating with lenders over a $13 billion debt load. How the proceeds of the Cubs sale will be handled will be decided at future hearings."

The full story:
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/1729345,CST-NWS-cubssale22.article

Mondo Times editors    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 1:12pm on Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

The Chicago Tribune is discontinuing weekly publication of Chicago Tribune magazine, the newspaper announced on June 19, 2009:

"The Chicago Tribune said Friday it is discontinuing its weekly Sunday magazine, replacing it as of July 5th with Sunday, a new section that will combine some of the magazine's features and puzzles with content that had been in the paper's Smart and House & Homes sections.

Chicago Tribune Magazine, which traces its roots to 1914's Chicago Tribune Pictorial Weekly and took on its current form on Oct. 4th, 1953, will continue as a series of themed sections published roughly once a month beginning in September. The final weekly edition will come out June 28th.

Gerould Kern, the Chicago Tribune's editor, said in a memo to staff that the change involving the magazine was made "because declining advertising and high costs made weekly publication unsustainable."

Eric Kallgren    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 6:40pm on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009

The Chicago Tribune marketing department asked for subscribers' opinions about news stories before they were published, Phil Rosenthal of the Tribune reported on May 1, 2009:

"A short-lived research project in which the Chicago Tribune solicited responses from current and former subscribers to descriptions of Tribune stories before they had been published has been halted after reporters raised journalistic concerns.

Gerould Kern, the Tribune's editor, gathered newsroom staff Thursday to tell them the brief experiment was over and to field their questions a day after a letter signed by dozens of editorial employees alerted him to the unorthodox sharing of unpublished materials.

"We've stopped this," Kern said later. "To prematurely disseminate information about stories in progress compromises reporting. ... There are a lot of reasons, such as potential legal [issues], fairness, accuracy and completeness.

"Reporters raised this question, as they should. Editors responded. We had a conversation about it. We made it clear what our values are. It was an affirmation of what we all believe in this afternoon, even though there was a breakdown and it was unfortunate, and we wish it hadn't happened."

The full story:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-fri_tribunemay01,0,854412.story