Chicago Tribune
Encyclopedia
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper
based in Chicago
, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company
. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (for which WGN radio
and television
are named), it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region
and is currently the eighth largest newspaper in the United States by circulation (and the second largest under Tribune's ownership behind Los Angeles Times
). Traditionally published as a broadsheet
, on January 13, 2009, the Tribune announced it would continue publishing as a broadsheet for home delivery, but would publish in tabloid format for newsstand, news box and commuter station sales.
On April 2, 2007, the Tribune Company
announced a buy-out plan led by Chicago real estate magnate Sam Zell worth $8.2 billion, associated with a stock buyback at $34 per share, and an Employee Stock Ownership Plan. The deal closed on December 20, 2007, with Zell as the company's new chairman. As part of the deal, the company sold the Chicago Cubs
and its properties, including Wrigley Field
and a stake in Comcast SportsNet Chicago, to the family of J. Joseph Ricketts
. Less than a year after the deal closed, the Tribune Company
filed for Chapter 11
bankruptcy protection on December 8, 2008.
, John E. Wheeler and Joseph K. C. Forrest, publishing its first edition on June 10, 1847. The paper saw numerous changes in ownership and editorship over the next eight years. Initially, the Tribune was not politically affiliated but tended to support either the Whig
or Free Soil
parties against the Democrats
in elections. By late 1853, it was frequently running xenophobic editorials that criticized foreigners and Roman Catholics. About this time it also became a strong proponent of temperance
. However nativist
its editorials may have been, it was not until February 10, 1855 that the Tribune formally affiliated itself with the nativist American or Know Nothing party, whose candidate Levi Boone
was elected Mayor of Chicago
the following month.
By about 1854, part-owner Capt. J. D. Webster, later General Webster and chief of staff at the Battle of Shiloh
, and Dr. Charles H. Ray of Galena, Illinois
through Horace Greeley
convinced Joseph Medill
of Cleveland
's Leader to become managing editor. Ray became editor-in-chief, Medill became the managing editor, and Alfred Cowles, Sr.
, brother of Edwin Cowles
, initially was the bookkeeper. Each purchased one third of the Tribune. Under their leadership the Tribune distanced itself from the Know Nothings and became the main Chicago organ of the Republican Party. However, the paper continued to print anti-Catholic and anti-Irish editorials. The Tribune absorbed three other Chicago publications under the new editors: the Free West in 1855, the Democratic Press in 1858, and the Chicago Democrat
in 1861, whose editor, John Wentworth
, left his position to become Chicago Mayor. Between 1858 and 1860, the paper was known as the Chicago Press & Tribune. After November 1860, it became the Chicago Daily Tribune. Before and during the American Civil War
, the new editors pushed an abolitionist agenda and strongly supported Abraham Lincoln
, whom Medill helped secure the Presidency in 1860. The paper remained a force in Republican politics for years afterwards.
In 1861, the Tribune published new lyrics for the song "John Brown's Body
" by William W. Patton
, rivaling the ones
published two months later by Julia Ward Howe
. Medill served as mayor of Chicago for one term after the Great Chicago Fire
of 1871.
Under the 20th Century editorship of Colonel Robert R. McCormick
the paper was strongly isolationist
and actively biased in its coverage of political news and social trends, calling itself, "The American Paper for Americans," excoriating the Democrats and the New Deal
, resolutely disdainful of the British and French and greatly enthusiastic for Chiang Kai-shek
and Sen. Joseph McCarthy
.
When McCormick assumed the position of co-editor (with his cousin Joseph Medill Patterson
) in 1910, the Tribune was the third-best-selling paper among Chicago's eight dailies, with a circulation of only 188,000. The young cousins added features such as advice columns and homegrown comic strips like Little Orphan Annie
and Moon Mullins
, then turned to "crusades", with their first success coming with the ouster of the Republican political boss of Illinois, Sen. William Lorimer
. At the same time, the Tribune competed with the Hearst paper, the Chicago Examiner, in a circulation war. By 1914, the cousins succeeded in forcing out Managing Editor William Keeley. By 1918, the Examiner was forced to merge with the Chicago Herald.
In the 1920s, Patterson left to take over the editorship of his own paper, the New York Daily News. In a renewed circulation war with Hearst's Herald-Examiner, McCormick and Hearst ran rival lotteries in 1922. The Tribune won the battle, adding 250,000 readers to its ranks. Also in 1922, the Chicago Tribune hosted an international design competition
for its new headquarters, the Tribune Tower
. The competition worked brilliantly as a publicity stunt, and more than 260 entries were received. The winner was a neo-Gothic design by New York architects John Mead Howells
and Raymond Hood
.
During the McCormick years, the Tribune was a champion of modified spelling (such as spelling "although" as "altho"). McCormick, a vigorous campaigner for the Republican Party, died in 1955, just four days before Democratic boss Richard J. Daley
was elected mayor for the first time.
One of the great scoops in Tribune history came when it obtained the text of the Treaty of Versailles
in June 1919. Another was its revelation of United States war plans on the eve of the Pearl Harbor
attack. The Tribunes June 7, 1942, front page announcement that America had broken Japan's naval code was actually the potential revelation of a closely guarded military secret by the paper. According to the Newseum, the story revealing that Americans broke the enemy naval codes was not cleared by censors, and had FDR
so enraged that he considered shutting the Tribune.
The paper is also well known for a mistake it made during the 1948 presidential election. At that time, much of its composing room staff was on strike, and early returns led the paper to believe that the Republican candidate Thomas Dewey
would win. An early edition of the next day's paper carried the headline "DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN
", turning the paper into a collector's item when it turned out that Harry S. Truman
won and proudly brandished it in a famous picture taken at St. Louis Union Station. More recently, the Tribune reported in its print edition (Sunday, August 1, 2010) that a fireworks exhibition occurred at the wedding of Chelsea Clinton
. When actual reports arrived, the story was quickly edited without notice online, to more accurately recount the actual occurrences at the wedding ceremony.
The Tribune's legendary sports editor Arch Ward created the Major League Baseball All-Star Game
in 1933 as part of the city's Century of Progress
exposition.
The Tribune's reputation for innovation extended to radio — it bought an early station, WDAP, in 1924 and renamed it WGN (AM)
, the station call letters standing for the paper's self-description as the "World's Greatest Newspaper." WGN Television
was launched April 5, 1948. These broadcast stations remain Tribune properties to this day and are among the oldest newspaper/broadcasting cross-ownerships in the country. (Later, the Tribune's East Coast sibling, the New York Daily News
, would establish WPIX
television and radio.)
competition, it has won 25 of the awards over the years, including many for editorial writing
. The Tribune won its first post-McCormick Pulitzer in 1961, when Carey Orr won the award for editorial cartooning. Reporter George Bliss won a Pulitzer the following year for reporting, and reporter Bill Jones snagged one in 1971 for reporting. A reporting team won the award in 1973, followed by reporter William Mullen and photographer Ovie Carter, who won a Pulitzer for international reporting in 1975. A local reporting team won the award in 1976, and architecture critic Paul Gapp won a Pulitzer in 1979.
In 1969, under the leadership of publisher Harold Grumhaus and editor Clayton Kirkpatrick (1915–2004), the Tribune's past conservative partisanship became history. Though the paper retained its Republican and conservative perspective in its editorials, it began to publish perspectives in wider commentary that represented a spectrum of diverse opinions, while its news reporting no longer had the conservative slant it had in the McCormick years.
In early 1974, in a major feat of journalism, the Tribune published the complete 246,000-word text of the Watergate tapes
in a 44-page supplement that hit the streets a mere 24 hours after the transcripts' release by the Nixon
White House
. Not only was the Tribune the first newspaper to publish the transcripts, but it beat the Government Printing Office's own published version, and made headlines doing so.
A week later, after studying the transcripts, the paper's editorial board observed that "the high dedication to grand principles that Americans have a right to expect from a President is missing from the transcript record." The Tribune's editors concluded that "nobody of sound mind can read [the transcripts] and continue to think that Mr. Nixon has upheld the standards and dignity of the Presidency," and called for Nixon's resignation. The Tribune call for Nixon to resign made news, reflecting not only the change in the type of conservativism practiced by the paper, but as a watershed event in terms of Nixon's hopes for survival in office. The White House reportedly saw the Tribune's editorial as a loss of a long-time supporter and as a blow to Nixon's hopes to weather the scandal.
On December 7, 1975, Kirkpatrick announced in a column on the editorial page that Rick Soll, a "young and talented columnist" for the paper whose work had "won a following among many Tribune readers over the last two years" resigned from the paper after acknowledging that a column he wrote that appeared on November 23, 1975, contained verbatim passages that another columnist wrote in 1967 and later published in a collection. Kirkpatrick did not identify the columnist. The passages in question, Kirkpatrick wrote, had been in a notebook where Soll had copied words, phrases and bits of conversation that he had wished to remember. Although the paper initially suspended Soll for a month without pay, Kirkpatrick noted that further evidence then came out that another column contained information that Soll knew was false. At that point, Kirkpatrick wrote, Tribune editors decided to accept the resignation that Soll offered when the investigation began. Soll went on to marry Chicago newspaper (and future TV) reporter Pam Zekman
and eventually work for the short-lived Chicago Times magazine in the late 1980s.
In March 1978, the Tribune announced that it hired columnist Bob Greene
away from the Chicago Sun-Times.
. James Squires served as the paper's editor from July 1981 until December 1989.
Jack Fuller served as the Tribune' s editor from 1989 until 1993, when he became the president and chief executive officer of the Chicago Tribune. Howard Tyner served as the Tribune' s editor from 1993 until 2001, when he was promoted to vice president/editorial for Tribune Publishing.
The Tribune won 11 Pulitzer prizes during the 1980s and 1990s. Editorial cartoonist Dick Locher
won the award in 1983, and editorial cartoonist Jeff MacNelly
won one in 1985. Then, future editor Jack Fuller won a Pulitzer for editorial writing in 1986. In 1987, reporters Jeff Lyon and Peter Gorner won a Pulitzer for explanatory reporting, and in 1988, Dean Baquet
, William Gaines and Ann Marie Lipinski
won a Pulitzer for investigative reporting. In 1989, Lois Wille won a Pulitzer for editorial writing and Clarence Page
snagged the award for commentary. In 1994, Ron Kotulak won a Pulitzer for explanatory journalism, while R. Bruce Dold won it for editorial writing. In 1998, reporter Paul Salopek
won a Pulitzer for explanatory writing, and in 1999, architecture critic Blair Kamin
won it for criticism.
The Tribune scored a coup in 1984 when it hired popular columnist Mike Royko
away from the rival Chicago Sun-Times
.
In 1986, the Tribune announced that celebrated film critic Gene Siskel
, the Tribunes best-known writer, was no longer the paper's film critic, and that his position with the paper had shifted from being that of a full-time film critic to that of a free-lance contract writer who was to write about the film industry for the Sunday paper and also provide capsule film reviews for the paper's entertainment sections. The demotion occurred after Siskel and longtime Chicago film critic colleague Roger Ebert
decided to shift the production of their weekly movie-review show —- then known as At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert
and later known as Siskel & Ebert & The Movies -- from Tribune Entertainment
to The Walt Disney Company
's Buena Vista Television
unit. "He has done a great job for us," editor James Squires said at the time. "It's a question of how much a person can do physically. We think you need to be a newspaper person first, and Gene Siskel has always tried to do that. But there comes a point when a career is so big that you can't do that." Siskel declined to comment on the new arrangement, but Ebert publicly criticized Siskel's Tribune bosses for punishing Siskel for taking their television program to a company other than Tribune Entertainment. Siskel remained in that free-lance position until his death in 1999. He was replaced as film critic in 1986 by Dave Kehr
.
In November 1992, Tribune associate subject editor Searle "Ed" Hawley was arrested by Chicago police and charged with seven counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse for allegedly having sex with three juveniles in his home in Evanston, Illinois
. Hawley formally resigned from the paper in early 1993, and pleaded guilty in April 1993. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison.
In an unusual move at that time, the Tribune in October 1993 fired its longtime military-affairs writer, retired-Marine David Evans, with the public position that the post of military affairs was being dropped in favor of having a national security writer.
In December 1993, the Tribune's longtime Washington, D.C. bureau chief, Nicholas Horrock, was removed from his post after he chose not to attend a meeting that editor Howard Tyner requested of him in Chicago. Horrock, who shortly thereafter left the paper, was replaced by James Warren
, who attracted new attention to the Tribune's D.C. bureau through his continued attacks on celebrity broadcast journalists in Washington.
Also in December 1993, the Tribune hired Margaret Holt from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel as its assistant managing editor for sports, making her the first female to head a sports department at any of the nation's 10 largest newspapers. In mid-1995, Holt was replaced as sports editor by Tim Franklin and shifted to a newly-created job, customer service editor.
In 1994, reporter Brenda You was fired by the Tribune after free-lancing for supermarket tabloid newspapers and lending them photographs from the Tribunes photo library. You later worked for the National Enquirer and as a producer for The Jerry Springer Show
before committing suicide in November 2005.
In April 1994, the Tribune's new television critic, Ken Parish Perkins, wrote an article about then-WFLD-TV morning news anchor Bob Sirott
in which Perkins quoted Sirott as making a statement that Sirott later denied making. Sirott criticized Perkins on the air, and the Tribune later printed a correction acknowledging that Sirott had never made that statement. Eight months later, Perkins stepped down as TV critic, and he left the paper shortly thereafter.
In December 1995, the alternative newsweekly Newcity
published a first-person article by the pseudonymous Clara Hamon (a name mentioned in the play The Front Page
) but quickly identified by Tribune reporters as that of former Tribune reporter Mary Hill that heavily criticized the paper's one-year residency program. The program brought young journalists in and out of the paper for one-year stints, seldom resulting in a full-time job. Hill, who wrote for the paper from 1992 until 1993, acknowledged to the Chicago Reader that she had written the diatribe originally for the Internet, and that the piece eventually was edited for Newcity.
In 1997, the Tribune celebrated its 150th anniversary in part by tapping longtime reporter Stevenson Swanson to edit the book Chicago Days: 150 Defining Moments in the Life of a Great City.
On April 29, 1997, popular columnist Mike Royko
died of a brain aneurysm. On September 2, 1997, the Tribune promoted longtime City Hall reporter John Kass
to take Royko's place as the paper's principal Page Two news columnist.
On June 1, 1997, the Tribune published what ended up becoming a very popular column by Mary Schmich
called "Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young", otherwise known as "Wear Sunscreen
" or the "Sunscreen Speech." The most popular and well-known form of the essay is the successful music single released in 1999, accredited to Baz Luhrmann
.
In 1998, reporter Jerry Thomas was fired by the Tribune after he wrote a cover article on boxing promoter Don King for Emerge magazine at the same time that he was writing a cover article on King for the Chicago Tribune Sunday magazine. The paper decided to fire Thomas—and suspend his photographer on the Emerge story, Pulitzer Prize-winning Tribune photographer Ovie Carter for a month—because Thomas did not tell the Tribune about his outside work and also because the Emerge story wound up appearing in print first.
The Tribune has been a leader on the Internet, acquiring 10 percent of America Online in the early 1990s, then launching such web sites as Chicagotribune.com (1995), Metromix.com (1996), ChicagoSports.com (1999), ChicagoBreakingNews.com (2008), and ChicagoNow.com (2009). In 2002, the paper launched a tabloid edition targeted at 18- to 34-year-olds known as RedEye
.
was the paper's editor from February 2001 until stepping down on July 17, 2008. Gerould W. Kern was named the paper's editor in July 2008. In early August 2008, managing editor for news Hanke Gratteau resigned, and several weeks later, managing editor for features James Warren
resigned as well. Both were replaced by Jane Hirt, who previously had been the editor of the Tribune's RedEye
tabloid.
In June 2000, Times Mirror merged with Tribune Company making The Baltimore Sun and its community papers Baltimore Sun Media Group / Patuxent Publishing a subsidiary of Tribune.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/about/bal-about-sun,0,7001763.htmlstory
http://www.baltimoresun.com/about/bal-about-sun-execpro,0,4434764.htmlstory
Tribune's Baltimore Community papers include, Arbutus Times, Baltimore Messenger, Catonsville Times, Columbia Flier, Howard County Times, The Jeffersonian, Laurel Leader, Lifetimes, North County News, Northeast Booster, Northeast Reporter, Owings Mills Times, Towson Times.
The Howard County Times (www.explorehoward.com) was named 2010 Newspaper of the Year by the Suburban Newspaper Association. http://corporate.tribune.com/pressroom/?p=2102
The Towson Times expands coverage beyond the Towson area and includes Baltimore County government and politics. http://www.explorebaltimorecounty.com/
http://www.patuxent.com/publications.html
The Tribune won five Pulitzer prizes in the first decade of the 21st century. Salopek won his second Pulitzer for the Tribune in 2001 for international reporting, and that same year an explanatory reporting team—lead writers of which were Louise Kiernan, Jon Hilkevitch, Laurie Cohen, Robert Manor, Andrew Martin, John Schmeltzer, Alex Rodriguez and Andrew Zajac -- won the honor for a profile of the chaotic U.S. air traffic system. In 2003, editorial writer Cornelia Grumman
snagged the award for editorial writing. In 2005, Julia Keller
won a Pulitzer for feature reporting on a tornado that struck Utica, Illinois. And, in 2008, an investigative reporting team including Patricia Callahan, Maurice Possley, Sam Roe
, Ted Gregory, Michael Oneal and Evan Osnos
won the Pulitzer for its series about faulty government regulation of defective toys, cribs and car seats.
In late 2001, sports columnist Michael Holley
announced he was leaving the Tribune after just two months because he was homesick. He ultimately returned to the Boston Globe, where he had been working immediately before the Tribune had hired him.
On September 15, 2002, Lipinski wrote a terse, page-one note informing readers that the paper's longtime columnist, Bob Greene
, resigned effective immediately after acknowledging "engaging in inappropriate sexual conduct some years ago with a girl in her late teens whom he met in connection with his newspaper column." The conduct later was revealed to have occurred in 1988 with a woman who was of the age of consent in Illinois. "Greene's behavior was a serious violation of Tribune ethics and standards for its journalists," Lipinski wrote. "We deeply regret the conduct, its effect on the young woman and the impact this disclosure has on the trust our readers placed in Greene and this newspaper."
In March 2004, the Tribune announced that free-lance reporter Uli Schmetzer, who retired from the Tribune in 2002 after 16 years as a foreign correspondent, had fabricated the name and occupation of a person he had quoted in a story. The paper terminated Schmetzer as a contract reporter and began a review of the 300 stories that Schmetzer had written over the prior three years.
In May 2004, the Tribune revealed that free-lance reporter Mark Falanga was unable to verify some facts that he inserted in a lifestyle-related column that ran on April 18, 2004, about an expensive lunch at a Chicago restaurant—namely, that the restaurant charged $15 for a bottle of water and $35 for a pasta entree. "Upon questioning, the freelance writer indicated the column was based on an amalgam of three restaurants and could not verify the prices," the paper noted. After the correction, the Tribune stopped using Falanga.
In October 2004, Tribune editor Ann Marie Lipinski
at the last minute spiked a story written for the paper's WomanNews section by free-lance reporter Lisa Bertagnoli titled "You c_nt say that (or can you?)," about a noted vulgarism
. The paper ordered every spare body to go to the Tribune's printing plant to pull already-printed WomanNews sections containing the story from the Wednesday, October 27, 2004, package of preprinted sections in the Tribune.
In September 2008, the Tribune considered hiring controversial sports columnist Jay Mariotti
, shortly after his abrupt resignation from Tribune archrival Chicago Sun-Times
. Discussions ultimately ended, however, after the Sun-Times threatened to sue for violating Mariotti's noncompete agreement, which was to run until August 2009.
In April 2009, 55 Tribune reporters and editors signed their names to an e-mail sent to Kern and managing editor Jane Hirt, questioning why the newspaper's marketing department had solicited subscribers' opinions on stories before they were published, and suggesting that the practice raised ethical questions as well as legal and competitive issues. Among those who signed off on the e-mail were reporters John D. McCormick
and Rick Kogan
. Reporters declined to speak on the record to the Associated Press
about their issues. "We'll let the e-mail speak for itself," reporter John Chase told the AP. In the wake of the controversy, Kern abruptly discontinued the effort, which he described as "a brief market research project."
In the first decade of the 21st century, the Tribune had multiple rounds of reductions of staff through layoffs and buyouts as it has coped with the industrywide declines in advertising revenues:
The Tribune broke the story on Friday, May 29, 2009, that several students had been admitted to the University of Illinois based upon connections or recommendations by the school's Board of Trustees, Chicago politicians, and members of the Rod Blagojevich
administration. Initially denying the existence of a so-called "Category I" admissions program, university President B. Joseph "Joe" White and Chancellor Richard Herman later admitted that there were instances of preferential treatment. Although they claimed the list was short and their role was minor, the Tribune, in particular, revealed emails through a FOIA finding that White had received a recommendation for a relative of convicted fundraiser Tony Rezko
to be admitted. The Tribune also later posted emails from Herman pushing for underqualified students to be accepted. The Tribune has since filed suit against the University administration under the Freedom of Information Act to acquire the names of students benefited by administrative clout and impropriety.
On February 8, 2010, the Chicago Tribune shrank its newspaper's width by an inch. They cited that the new format was becoming the industry standard and that there would be minimal content changes.
In a 2007 statement of principles published in the Tribunes print and online editions, the paper's editorial board described the newspaper's philosophy, from which is excerpted the following:
The Tribune has remained economically conservative, being widely skeptical of increasing the minimum wage and entitlement spending. Although the Tribune criticized the Bush administration's record on civil liberties, the environment, and many aspects of its foreign policy, it continued to support his presidency while taking Democrats, such as Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich
and Cook County Board President Todd Stroger
, to task and calling for their removal from office.
In 2004, the Tribune endorsed President George W. Bush
for re-election, a decision consistent with its longstanding support for the Republican Party
. The Chicago Tribune endorsed Chicago area politician and Illinois junior U.S. Senator Barack Obama in 2008.
The Tribune has previously backed independent candidates. In 1872, it supported Horace Greeley
, a former Republican Party newspaper editor, and in 1912 the paper endorsed Theodore Roosevelt
, who ran on the Progressive Party
slate against Republican President William Howard Taft
.
Over the years, the Tribune has endorsed Democrats for lesser offices, including recent endorsements of Bill Foster
, Barack Obama
for the Senate
and Democrat Melissa Bean
, who defeated Philip Crane, the House of Representatives
' longest-serving Republican. Though the Tribune endorsed George Ryan
in the 1998 Illinois gubernatorial race, the paper subsequently investigated and reported on the scandals surrounding Ryan during his preceding years as Secretary of State. Ryan declined to stand for re-election in 2002 and was subsequently indicted, convicted and imprisoned as a result of the scandal.
, which includes many newspapers and television stations around the country. In Chicago, Tribune owns the WGN
radio station (720 AM) and WGN-TV
(Channel 9). Tribune Company also owns the Los Angeles Times
-- which displaced the Tribune as the company's largest property—and the Chicago Cubs
baseball
team. The Cubs were sold in 2009.
Tribune Company owned The New York Daily News from its 1919 founding until its 1991 sale to Robert Maxwell
. The founder of the News, Capt. Joseph Patterson and Col. McCormick, were both descendants of Medill. Both were also enthusiasts of simplified spelling
, another hallmark of their papers for many years. Tribune Company sold the Long Island newspaper Newsday
in 2008.
Since 1925, the Chicago Tribune has been housed in the Tribune Tower
on North Michigan Avenue
on the Magnificent Mile
. The building is neo-Gothic
in style, and the design was the winner of an international competition hosted by the Tribune.
On June 25, 2008, the Tribune company announced they had hired a real estate company to entertain bids of the sale of both the Tribune Tower in Chicago, and the Times Building in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Times, is also owned by the Tribune Company.
' s web site) was controversial and is largely regarded as an effort in cost-cutting. Since then the newspaper has returned to a more toned down style. The style is more a mix of the old style and a new modern style.
As part of its bankruptcy plan, owner Sam Zell intended to sell the Cubs to reduce debt. This sale has become linked to the corruption charges leading to the December 9, 2008, arrest of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich
. Specifically, the ex-governor was accused of exploiting the paper's financial trouble in an effort to have several editors fired.
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
based in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company
Tribune Company
The Tribune Company is a large American multimedia corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. It is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, with ten daily newspapers and commuter tabloids including Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Hartford Courant, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida...
. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (for which WGN radio
WGN (AM)
WGN is a radio station in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It is the only radio station owned by the Tribune Company, which also owns the flagship television station WGN-TV, the Chicago Tribune newspaper and Chicago magazine locally. WGN's transmitter is located in Elk Grove Village, Illinois...
and television
WGN-TV
WGN-TV, virtual channel 9 , is the CW-affiliated television station in Chicago, Illinois built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WGN-TV's studios and offices are located at 2501 W...
are named), it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region
Great Lakes region (North America)
The Great Lakes region of North America, occasionally known as the Third Coast or the Fresh Coast , includes the eight U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as well as the Canadian province of Ontario...
and is currently the eighth largest newspaper in the United States by circulation (and the second largest under Tribune's ownership behind Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
). Traditionally published as a broadsheet
Broadsheet
Broadsheet is the largest of the various newspaper formats and is characterized by long vertical pages . The term derives from types of popular prints usually just of a single sheet, sold on the streets and containing various types of material, from ballads to political satire. The first broadsheet...
, on January 13, 2009, the Tribune announced it would continue publishing as a broadsheet for home delivery, but would publish in tabloid format for newsstand, news box and commuter station sales.
On April 2, 2007, the Tribune Company
Tribune Company
The Tribune Company is a large American multimedia corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. It is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, with ten daily newspapers and commuter tabloids including Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Hartford Courant, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida...
announced a buy-out plan led by Chicago real estate magnate Sam Zell worth $8.2 billion, associated with a stock buyback at $34 per share, and an Employee Stock Ownership Plan. The deal closed on December 20, 2007, with Zell as the company's new chairman. As part of the deal, the company sold the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
and its properties, including Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field is a baseball stadium in Chicago, Illinois, United States that has served as the home ballpark of the Chicago Cubs since 1916. It was built in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Federal League baseball team, the Chicago Whales...
and a stake in Comcast SportsNet Chicago, to the family of J. Joseph Ricketts
J. Joseph Ricketts
J. Joseph Ricketts is the founder, former CEO and former chairman of TD Ameritrade, one of the largest online discount brokerages in the world, based in Omaha, Nebraska...
. Less than a year after the deal closed, the Tribune Company
Tribune Company
The Tribune Company is a large American multimedia corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. It is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, with ten daily newspapers and commuter tabloids including Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Hartford Courant, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida...
filed for Chapter 11
Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code
Chapter 11 is a chapter of the United States Bankruptcy Code, which permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is available to every business, whether organized as a corporation or sole proprietorship, and to individuals, although it is most...
bankruptcy protection on December 8, 2008.
History
The Tribune was founded by James KellyJames Kelly (journalist)
James Kelly was a founder of Chicago Tribune....
, John E. Wheeler and Joseph K. C. Forrest, publishing its first edition on June 10, 1847. The paper saw numerous changes in ownership and editorship over the next eight years. Initially, the Tribune was not politically affiliated but tended to support either the Whig
Whig Party (United States)
The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...
or Free Soil
Free Soil Party
The Free Soil Party was a short-lived political party in the United States active in the 1848 and 1852 presidential elections, and in some state elections. It was a third party and a single-issue party that largely appealed to and drew its greatest strength from New York State. The party leadership...
parties against the Democrats
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
in elections. By late 1853, it was frequently running xenophobic editorials that criticized foreigners and Roman Catholics. About this time it also became a strong proponent of temperance
Temperance movement
A temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...
. However nativist
Nativism (politics)
Nativism favors the interests of certain established inhabitants of an area or nation as compared to claims of newcomers or immigrants. It may also include the re-establishment or perpetuation of such individuals or their culture....
its editorials may have been, it was not until February 10, 1855 that the Tribune formally affiliated itself with the nativist American or Know Nothing party, whose candidate Levi Boone
Levi Boone
Levi Day Boone served as mayor of Chicago, Illinois for the American Party .-Early Life:...
was elected Mayor of Chicago
Mayor of Chicago
The Mayor of Chicago is the chief executive of Chicago, Illinois, the third largest city in the United States. He or she is charged with directing city departments and agencies, and with the advice and consent of the Chicago City Council, appoints department and agency leaders.-Appointment...
the following month.
Battle of Shiloh
The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was a major battle in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, fought April 6–7, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee. A Union army under Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant had moved via the Tennessee River deep into Tennessee and...
, and Dr. Charles H. Ray of Galena, Illinois
Galena, Illinois
Galena is the county seat of, and largest city in, Jo Daviess County, Illinois in the United States, with a population of 3,429 in 2010. The city is a popular tourist destination known for its history, historical architecture, and ski and golf resorts. Galena was the residence of Ulysses S...
through Horace Greeley
Horace Greeley
Horace Greeley was an American newspaper editor, a founder of the Liberal Republican Party, a reformer, a politician, and an outspoken opponent of slavery...
convinced Joseph Medill
Joseph Medill
Joseph Medill was an American newspaper editor and publisher, and politician. He was co-owner and managing editor of the Chicago Tribune, and was Mayor of Chicago.-Biography:...
of Cleveland
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
's Leader to become managing editor. Ray became editor-in-chief, Medill became the managing editor, and Alfred Cowles, Sr.
Alfred Cowles, Sr.
Alfred Cowles, Sr. was an American businessperson and newspaper publisher. During the 1860s to 1880s he was bookkeeper, treasurer and business manager of the Chicago Tribune of which he was part owner....
, brother of Edwin Cowles
Edwin Cowles
Edwin Cowles , born in Austinburg, was the publisher of The Cleveland Leader, Vice-President of the 1884 Republican National Convention, postmaster of Cleveland, April 4, 1861 - July 11, 1865, and elder brother of Alfred Cowles, Sr., also a newspaper publisher.-References:...
, initially was the bookkeeper. Each purchased one third of the Tribune. Under their leadership the Tribune distanced itself from the Know Nothings and became the main Chicago organ of the Republican Party. However, the paper continued to print anti-Catholic and anti-Irish editorials. The Tribune absorbed three other Chicago publications under the new editors: the Free West in 1855, the Democratic Press in 1858, and the Chicago Democrat
Chicago Democrat
The Chicago Democrat was the first newspaper in Chicago, Illinois. It was published from 1833 to 1861.-History:Publisher was a Jacksonian Democrat, lured west at the end of 1833 from Watertown, New York to start the Democrat inspired by traveler's stories about Chicago after a series of newspaper...
in 1861, whose editor, John Wentworth
John Wentworth (mayor)
"Long" John Wentworth was the editor of the Chicago Democrat, a two-term mayor of Chicago, and a six-term member of the United States House of Representatives....
, left his position to become Chicago Mayor. Between 1858 and 1860, the paper was known as the Chicago Press & Tribune. After November 1860, it became the Chicago Daily Tribune. Before and during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, the new editors pushed an abolitionist agenda and strongly supported Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
, whom Medill helped secure the Presidency in 1860. The paper remained a force in Republican politics for years afterwards.
John Brown's Body
"John Brown's Body" is an American marching song about the abolitionist John Brown. The song was popular in the Union during the American Civil War. The tune arose out of the folk hymn tradition of the American camp meeting movement of the 19th century...
" by William W. Patton
William Weston Patton
Rev. William Weston Patton , was president of Howard University, a fierce abolitionist and one of the contributors to the words of John Brown's Body. He was the son of Rev...
, rivaling the ones
The Battle Hymn of the Republic
"The Battle Hymn of the Republic" is a hymn by American writer Julia Ward Howe using the music from the song "John Brown's Body". Howe's more famous lyrics were written in November 1861 and first published in The Atlantic Monthly in February 1862. It became popular during the American Civil War...
published two months later by Julia Ward Howe
Julia Ward Howe
Julia Ward Howe was a prominent American abolitionist, social activist, and poet, most famous as the author of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic".-Biography:...
. Medill served as mayor of Chicago for one term after the Great Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned from Sunday, October 8, to early Tuesday, October 10, 1871, killing hundreds and destroying about in Chicago, Illinois. Though the fire was one of the largest U.S...
of 1871.
Under the 20th Century editorship of Colonel Robert R. McCormick
Robert R. McCormick
Robert Rutherford "Colonel" McCormick was a member of the McCormick family of Chicago who became owner and publisher of the Chicago Tribune newspaper...
the paper was strongly isolationist
United States non-interventionism
Non-interventionism, the diplomatic policy whereby a nation seeks to avoid alliances with other nations in order to avoid being drawn into wars not related to direct territorial self-defense, has had a long history in the United States...
and actively biased in its coverage of political news and social trends, calling itself, "The American Paper for Americans," excoriating the Democrats and the New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
, resolutely disdainful of the British and French and greatly enthusiastic for Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
and Sen. Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
.
When McCormick assumed the position of co-editor (with his cousin Joseph Medill Patterson
Joseph Medill Patterson
Joseph Medill Patterson was an American journalist and publisher, grandson of publisher Joseph Medill, founder of the Chicago Tribune and a mayor of Chicago, Illinois.-Family:...
) in 1910, the Tribune was the third-best-selling paper among Chicago's eight dailies, with a circulation of only 188,000. The young cousins added features such as advice columns and homegrown comic strips like Little Orphan Annie
Little Orphan Annie
Little Orphan Annie was a daily American comic strip created by Harold Gray and syndicated by Tribune Media Services. The strip took its name from the 1885 poem "Little Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley, and made its debut on August 5, 1924 in the New York Daily News...
and Moon Mullins
Moon Mullins
Moon Mullins, created by cartoonist Frank Willard , was a popular American comic strip which had a long run as both a daily and Sunday feature from June 19, 1923 to June 2, 1991. Syndicated by the Chicago Tribune/New York News Syndicate, the strip depicts the lives of diverse lowbrow characters who...
, then turned to "crusades", with their first success coming with the ouster of the Republican political boss of Illinois, Sen. William Lorimer
William Lorimer (politician)
William Lorimer was a U.S. Representative from the State of Illinois. He subsequently served in the United States Senate and was known as the "Blond Boss" in Chicago. In 1912, however, the Senate held Lorimer's election invalid due to the use of corrupt methods and practices including...
. At the same time, the Tribune competed with the Hearst paper, the Chicago Examiner, in a circulation war. By 1914, the cousins succeeded in forcing out Managing Editor William Keeley. By 1918, the Examiner was forced to merge with the Chicago Herald.
In the 1920s, Patterson left to take over the editorship of his own paper, the New York Daily News. In a renewed circulation war with Hearst's Herald-Examiner, McCormick and Hearst ran rival lotteries in 1922. The Tribune won the battle, adding 250,000 readers to its ranks. Also in 1922, the Chicago Tribune hosted an international design competition
Architectural design competition
An architectural design competition is a special type of competition in which an organization or government body that plans to build a new building asks for architects to submit a proposed design for a building. The winning design is usually chosen by an independent panel of design professionals...
for its new headquarters, the Tribune Tower
Tribune Tower
The Tribune Tower is a neo-Gothic building located at 435 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Tribune and Tribune Company. WGN Radio also broadcasts from the building, with ground-level studios overlooking nearby Pioneer Court and Michigan Avenue. CNN's...
. The competition worked brilliantly as a publicity stunt, and more than 260 entries were received. The winner was a neo-Gothic design by New York architects John Mead Howells
John Mead Howells
John Mead Howells was an American architect. Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts as the son of author William Dean Howells, he studied architecture at Harvard and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he met his future partners, I. N. Phelps Stokes and Raymond Hood...
and Raymond Hood
Raymond Hood
Raymond Mathewson Hood was an early-mid twentieth century architect who worked in the Art Deco style. He was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, educated at Brown University, MIT, and the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. At the latter institution he met John Mead Howells, with whom Hood later partnered...
.
During the McCormick years, the Tribune was a champion of modified spelling (such as spelling "although" as "altho"). McCormick, a vigorous campaigner for the Republican Party, died in 1955, just four days before Democratic boss Richard J. Daley
Richard J. Daley
Richard Joseph Daley served for 21 years as the mayor and undisputed Democratic boss of Chicago and is considered by historians to be the "last of the big city bosses." He played a major role in the history of the Democratic Party, especially with his support of John F...
was elected mayor for the first time.
One of the great scoops in Tribune history came when it obtained the text of the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
in June 1919. Another was its revelation of United States war plans on the eve of the Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
attack. The Tribunes June 7, 1942, front page announcement that America had broken Japan's naval code was actually the potential revelation of a closely guarded military secret by the paper. According to the Newseum, the story revealing that Americans broke the enemy naval codes was not cleared by censors, and had FDR
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
so enraged that he considered shutting the Tribune.
U.S. presidential election, 1948
Thomas Dewey
Thomas Edmund Dewey was the 47th Governor of New York . In 1944 and 1948, he was the Republican candidate for President, but lost both times. He led the liberal faction of the Republican Party, in which he fought conservative Ohio Senator Robert A. Taft...
would win. An early edition of the next day's paper carried the headline "DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN
Dewey Defeats Truman
"Dewey Defeats Truman" was a famously inaccurate banner headline on the front page of the Chicago Tribune on November 3, 1948, the day after incumbent United States President Harry S. Truman beat Republican challenger and Governor of New York Thomas E...
", turning the paper into a collector's item when it turned out that Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
won and proudly brandished it in a famous picture taken at St. Louis Union Station. More recently, the Tribune reported in its print edition (Sunday, August 1, 2010) that a fireworks exhibition occurred at the wedding of Chelsea Clinton
Chelsea Clinton
Chelsea Victoria Clinton is a television journalist, currently serving as Special Correspondent for NBC News, and philanthropist, working through the Clinton Global Initiative. She is the only child of former U.S...
. When actual reports arrived, the story was quickly edited without notice online, to more accurately recount the actual occurrences at the wedding ceremony.
The Tribune
Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by a combination of fans, players, coaches, and managers...
in 1933 as part of the city's Century of Progress
Century of Progress
A Century of Progress International Exposition was the name of a World's Fair held in Chicago from 1933 to 1934 to celebrate the city's centennial. The theme of the fair was technological innovation...
exposition.
The Tribune
WGN (AM)
WGN is a radio station in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It is the only radio station owned by the Tribune Company, which also owns the flagship television station WGN-TV, the Chicago Tribune newspaper and Chicago magazine locally. WGN's transmitter is located in Elk Grove Village, Illinois...
, the station call letters standing for the paper's self-description as the "World's Greatest Newspaper." WGN Television
WGN-TV
WGN-TV, virtual channel 9 , is the CW-affiliated television station in Chicago, Illinois built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WGN-TV's studios and offices are located at 2501 W...
was launched April 5, 1948. These broadcast stations remain Tribune properties to this day and are among the oldest newspaper/broadcasting cross-ownerships in the country. (Later, the Tribune
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
, would establish WPIX
WPIX
WPIX, channel 11, is a television station in New York City built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WPIX also serves as the flagship station of The CW Television Network...
television and radio.)
After McCormick: The Watergate years
Although under Colonel McCormick, the Tribune for years refused to participate in the Pulitzer PrizePulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
competition, it has won 25 of the awards over the years, including many for editorial writing
Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing
The Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing has been awarded since 1917 for distinguished editorial writing, the test of excellence being clearness of style, moral purpose, sound reasoning, and power to influence public opinion in what the writer conceives to be the right direction...
. The Tribune won its first post-McCormick Pulitzer in 1961, when Carey Orr won the award for editorial cartooning. Reporter George Bliss won a Pulitzer the following year for reporting, and reporter Bill Jones snagged one in 1971 for reporting. A reporting team won the award in 1973, followed by reporter William Mullen and photographer Ovie Carter, who won a Pulitzer for international reporting in 1975. A local reporting team won the award in 1976, and architecture critic Paul Gapp won a Pulitzer in 1979.
In 1969, under the leadership of publisher Harold Grumhaus and editor Clayton Kirkpatrick (1915–2004), the Tribune's past conservative partisanship became history. Though the paper retained its Republican and conservative perspective in its editorials, it began to publish perspectives in wider commentary that represented a spectrum of diverse opinions, while its news reporting no longer had the conservative slant it had in the McCormick years.
In early 1974, in a major feat of journalism, the Tribune published the complete 246,000-word text of the Watergate tapes
Watergate tapes
The Watergate tapes, a subset of the Nixon tapes, are a collection of recordings of conversations between Richard Nixon and his fellow conspirators plotting a break in to the Watergate Hotel. U.S. President Richard Nixon and various White House staff started communicating on February 1971 and...
in a 44-page supplement that hit the streets a mere 24 hours after the transcripts' release by the Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
. Not only was the Tribune the first newspaper to publish the transcripts, but it beat the Government Printing Office's own published version, and made headlines doing so.
A week later, after studying the transcripts, the paper's editorial board observed that "the high dedication to grand principles that Americans have a right to expect from a President is missing from the transcript record." The Tribune
On December 7, 1975, Kirkpatrick announced in a column on the editorial page that Rick Soll, a "young and talented columnist" for the paper whose work had "won a following among many Tribune readers over the last two years" resigned from the paper after acknowledging that a column he wrote that appeared on November 23, 1975, contained verbatim passages that another columnist wrote in 1967 and later published in a collection. Kirkpatrick did not identify the columnist. The passages in question, Kirkpatrick wrote, had been in a notebook where Soll had copied words, phrases and bits of conversation that he had wished to remember. Although the paper initially suspended Soll for a month without pay, Kirkpatrick noted that further evidence then came out that another column contained information that Soll knew was false. At that point, Kirkpatrick wrote, Tribune editors decided to accept the resignation that Soll offered when the investigation began. Soll went on to marry Chicago newspaper (and future TV) reporter Pam Zekman
Pam Zekman
Pam Zekman has been an investigative reporter at WBBM-TV in Chicago since 1981. A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, Zekman spent over a decade as a newspaper reporter before working in television. Zekman is known for her aggressive investigative work, including the purchase of...
and eventually work for the short-lived Chicago Times magazine in the late 1980s.
In March 1978, the Tribune announced that it hired columnist Bob Greene
Bob Greene
Robert Bernard Greene, Jr. is an American journalist. He worked for 24 years for the Chicago Tribune newspaper, where he was an award-winning columnist. Greene has written books on subjects varying from Michael Jordan, to small towns, to U.S. presidents. His Hang Time: Days and Dreams with Michael...
away from the Chicago Sun-Times.
The 1980s and 1990s
Kirkpatrick stepped down as editor in 1979 and was succeeded by Maxwell McCrohon (1928–2004), who served as editor until 1981, when he was transitioned to a corporate position. McCrohon held the corporate position until 1983, when he left to become editor in chief of the United Press InternationalUnited Press International
United Press International is a once-major international news agency, whose newswires, photo, news film and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations for most of the twentieth century...
. James Squires served as the paper's editor from July 1981 until December 1989.
Jack Fuller served as the Tribune
The Tribune won 11 Pulitzer prizes during the 1980s and 1990s. Editorial cartoonist Dick Locher
Dick Locher
Richard Earl Locher , better known as Dick Locher, is a nationally syndicated cartoonist.-Early life and career:Locher was born in Dubuque, Iowa. After high school, he began studying art at the University of Iowa and the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. While in Chicago, he became an assistant to Rick...
won the award in 1983, and editorial cartoonist Jeff MacNelly
Jeff MacNelly
Jeffrey Kenneth MacNelly was a three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist and the creator of the popular comic strip Shoe.-Early life:...
won one in 1985. Then, future editor Jack Fuller won a Pulitzer for editorial writing in 1986. In 1987, reporters Jeff Lyon and Peter Gorner won a Pulitzer for explanatory reporting, and in 1988, Dean Baquet
Dean Baquet
Dean P. Baquet is an American journalist, who on June 2, 2011 was named to become managing editor for news operations of The New York Times effective September 6....
, William Gaines and Ann Marie Lipinski
Ann Marie Lipinski
Ann Marie Lipinski is a journalist and the curator of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard. She is the former editor of the Chicago Tribune and Vice President for Civic Engagement at the University of Chicago...
won a Pulitzer for investigative reporting. In 1989, Lois Wille won a Pulitzer for editorial writing and Clarence Page
Clarence Page
Clarence Page is an American journalist, syndicated columnist, and senior member of The Chicago Tribune editorial board.-Early years:...
snagged the award for commentary. In 1994, Ron Kotulak won a Pulitzer for explanatory journalism, while R. Bruce Dold won it for editorial writing. In 1998, reporter Paul Salopek
Paul Salopek
Paul Salopek is a two-time Pulitzer Prize winning writer. Salopek was raised in central Mexico.-Life:Salopek received a degree in environmental biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1984...
won a Pulitzer for explanatory writing, and in 1999, architecture critic Blair Kamin
Blair Kamin
Blair Kamin is the Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic of the Chicago Tribune, a post he has held since 1992. Kamin has held other jobs at the Tribune and previously worked for The Des Moines Register. He also serves as a contributing editor of Architectural Record...
won it for criticism.
The Tribune scored a coup in 1984 when it hired popular columnist Mike Royko
Mike Royko
Michael "Mike" Royko was a newspaper columnist in Chicago, who won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for commentary...
away from the rival Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
.
In 1986, the Tribune announced that celebrated film critic Gene Siskel
Gene Siskel
Eugene Kal "Gene" Siskel was an American film critic and journalist for the Chicago Tribune. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted the popular review show Siskel & Ebert At the Movies from 1975 until his death....
, the Tribunes best-known writer, was no longer the paper's film critic, and that his position with the paper had shifted from being that of a full-time film critic to that of a free-lance contract writer who was to write about the film industry for the Sunday paper and also provide capsule film reviews for the paper's entertainment sections. The demotion occurred after Siskel and longtime Chicago film critic colleague Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
decided to shift the production of their weekly movie-review show —- then known as At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert
At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert
At the Movies was a movie review television program that aired from 1982 to 1990. It was produced by Tribune Entertainment and created by Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, who had left Sneak Previews the previous year....
and later known as Siskel & Ebert & The Movies -- from Tribune Entertainment
Tribune Entertainment
Tribune Entertainment was a television production and syndication company owned and operated by Tribune Broadcasting in the mid-1980s. Many programs offered from Tribune Entertainment have been broadcast on the company's television stations....
to The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
's Buena Vista Television
Buena Vista Television
Disney-ABC Domestic Television is the domestic television syndication firm of the Disney-ABC Television Group, a division of The Walt Disney Company, that handles the television distribution of product from Walt Disney Television, Walt Disney Television Animation, BVS Entertainment, and ABC...
unit. "He has done a great job for us," editor James Squires said at the time. "It's a question of how much a person can do physically. We think you need to be a newspaper person first, and Gene Siskel has always tried to do that. But there comes a point when a career is so big that you can't do that." Siskel declined to comment on the new arrangement, but Ebert publicly criticized Siskel's Tribune bosses for punishing Siskel for taking their television program to a company other than Tribune Entertainment. Siskel remained in that free-lance position until his death in 1999. He was replaced as film critic in 1986 by Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr is an American film critic. A critic at the Chicago Reader and the Chicago Tribune for many years, he writes a weekly column for The New York Times on DVD releases, in addition to contributing occasional pieces on individual films or filmmakers.-Early life and education:Dave Kehr did...
.
In November 1992, Tribune associate subject editor Searle "Ed" Hawley was arrested by Chicago police and charged with seven counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse for allegedly having sex with three juveniles in his home in Evanston, Illinois
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...
. Hawley formally resigned from the paper in early 1993, and pleaded guilty in April 1993. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison.
In an unusual move at that time, the Tribune in October 1993 fired its longtime military-affairs writer, retired-Marine David Evans, with the public position that the post of military affairs was being dropped in favor of having a national security writer.
In December 1993, the Tribune's longtime Washington, D.C. bureau chief, Nicholas Horrock, was removed from his post after he chose not to attend a meeting that editor Howard Tyner requested of him in Chicago. Horrock, who shortly thereafter left the paper, was replaced by James Warren
James Warren (journalist)
James C. Warren is an American journalist who served as the managing editor for features at the Chicago Tribune until he left the paper in 2008. He previously was the Tribune's Washington bureau chief from 1993 to 2001, and he appeared on CNN's "The Capitol Gang" as part of that job...
, who attracted new attention to the Tribune's D.C. bureau through his continued attacks on celebrity broadcast journalists in Washington.
Also in December 1993, the Tribune hired Margaret Holt from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel as its assistant managing editor for sports, making her the first female to head a sports department at any of the nation's 10 largest newspapers. In mid-1995, Holt was replaced as sports editor by Tim Franklin and shifted to a newly-created job, customer service editor.
In 1994, reporter Brenda You was fired by the Tribune after free-lancing for supermarket tabloid newspapers and lending them photographs from the Tribunes photo library. You later worked for the National Enquirer and as a producer for The Jerry Springer Show
The Jerry Springer Show
The Jerry Springer Show is a syndicated television tabloid talk show hosted by Jerry Springer, a former politician, broadcast in the United States and other countries...
before committing suicide in November 2005.
In April 1994, the Tribune's new television critic, Ken Parish Perkins, wrote an article about then-WFLD-TV morning news anchor Bob Sirott
Bob Sirott
Robert Michael "Bob" Sirott , is a Chicago broadcaster who currently is one of the two principal news anchors at WFLD-TV in Chicago and is a radio host at WGN-AM.- Early life and education :...
in which Perkins quoted Sirott as making a statement that Sirott later denied making. Sirott criticized Perkins on the air, and the Tribune later printed a correction acknowledging that Sirott had never made that statement. Eight months later, Perkins stepped down as TV critic, and he left the paper shortly thereafter.
In December 1995, the alternative newsweekly Newcity
Newcity
Newcity is an independent, free weekly newspaper in Chicago that specializes in music, stage, film and art and is notable for launching the careers of numerous cartoonists and writers and art critics. The publication was described by the Chicago Tribune as "sophisticated" and as an "alternative...
published a first-person article by the pseudonymous Clara Hamon (a name mentioned in the play The Front Page
The Front Page
The Front Page is a hit Broadway comedy about tabloid newspaper reporters on the police beat, written by one-time Chicago reporters Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur which was first produced in 1928.-Synopsis:...
) but quickly identified by Tribune reporters as that of former Tribune reporter Mary Hill that heavily criticized the paper's one-year residency program. The program brought young journalists in and out of the paper for one-year stints, seldom resulting in a full-time job. Hill, who wrote for the paper from 1992 until 1993, acknowledged to the Chicago Reader that she had written the diatribe originally for the Internet, and that the piece eventually was edited for Newcity.
In 1997, the Tribune celebrated its 150th anniversary in part by tapping longtime reporter Stevenson Swanson to edit the book Chicago Days: 150 Defining Moments in the Life of a Great City.
On April 29, 1997, popular columnist Mike Royko
Mike Royko
Michael "Mike" Royko was a newspaper columnist in Chicago, who won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for commentary...
died of a brain aneurysm. On September 2, 1997, the Tribune promoted longtime City Hall reporter John Kass
John Kass
John Kass is a Chicago Tribune columnist.The son of a Greek immigrant grocer, Kass was born June 25, 1956, on the South Side of Chicago and grew up there and in Oak Lawn, IL. He held many jobs - retailer, ditch digger, waiter - before becoming a student of film at Columbia College in Chicago...
to take Royko's place as the paper's principal Page Two news columnist.
On June 1, 1997, the Tribune published what ended up becoming a very popular column by Mary Schmich
Mary Schmich
Mary Theresa Schmich is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune.Born in Savannah, Georgia, the oldest of eight children, Schmich grew up in Georgia, attended high school in Phoenix, Arizona, and earned a B.A...
called "Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young", otherwise known as "Wear Sunscreen
Wear Sunscreen
Wear Sunscreen or Sunscreen are the common names of an essay titled "Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young" written by Mary Schmich and published in the Chicago Tribune as a column in 1997, but often erroneously attributed to a commencement speech by author Kurt Vonnegut. Both its...
" or the "Sunscreen Speech." The most popular and well-known form of the essay is the successful music single released in 1999, accredited to Baz Luhrmann
Baz Luhrmann
Mark Anthony "Baz" Luhrmann is an Australian film director, screenwriter, and producer best known for The Red Curtain Trilogy, which includes his films Strictly Ballroom, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge!...
.
In 1998, reporter Jerry Thomas was fired by the Tribune after he wrote a cover article on boxing promoter Don King for Emerge magazine at the same time that he was writing a cover article on King for the Chicago Tribune Sunday magazine. The paper decided to fire Thomas—and suspend his photographer on the Emerge story, Pulitzer Prize-winning Tribune photographer Ovie Carter for a month—because Thomas did not tell the Tribune about his outside work and also because the Emerge story wound up appearing in print first.
The Tribune has been a leader on the Internet, acquiring 10 percent of America Online in the early 1990s, then launching such web sites as Chicagotribune.com (1995), Metromix.com (1996), ChicagoSports.com (1999), ChicagoBreakingNews.com (2008), and ChicagoNow.com (2009). In 2002, the paper launched a tabloid edition targeted at 18- to 34-year-olds known as RedEye
RedEye
The RedEye is a daily publication put out by the Chicago Tribune geared toward 18 to 34-year-olds. RedEye was created due in part to the loss of readership among young people of the Chicago Tribune and other major newspapers...
.
The 2000s
Ann Marie LipinskiAnn Marie Lipinski
Ann Marie Lipinski is a journalist and the curator of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard. She is the former editor of the Chicago Tribune and Vice President for Civic Engagement at the University of Chicago...
was the paper's editor from February 2001 until stepping down on July 17, 2008. Gerould W. Kern was named the paper's editor in July 2008. In early August 2008, managing editor for news Hanke Gratteau resigned, and several weeks later, managing editor for features James Warren
James Warren (journalist)
James C. Warren is an American journalist who served as the managing editor for features at the Chicago Tribune until he left the paper in 2008. He previously was the Tribune's Washington bureau chief from 1993 to 2001, and he appeared on CNN's "The Capitol Gang" as part of that job...
resigned as well. Both were replaced by Jane Hirt, who previously had been the editor of the Tribune's RedEye
RedEye
The RedEye is a daily publication put out by the Chicago Tribune geared toward 18 to 34-year-olds. RedEye was created due in part to the loss of readership among young people of the Chicago Tribune and other major newspapers...
tabloid.
In June 2000, Times Mirror merged with Tribune Company making The Baltimore Sun and its community papers Baltimore Sun Media Group / Patuxent Publishing a subsidiary of Tribune.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/about/bal-about-sun,0,7001763.htmlstory
http://www.baltimoresun.com/about/bal-about-sun-execpro,0,4434764.htmlstory
Tribune's Baltimore Community papers include, Arbutus Times, Baltimore Messenger, Catonsville Times, Columbia Flier, Howard County Times, The Jeffersonian, Laurel Leader, Lifetimes, North County News, Northeast Booster, Northeast Reporter, Owings Mills Times, Towson Times.
The Howard County Times (www.explorehoward.com) was named 2010 Newspaper of the Year by the Suburban Newspaper Association. http://corporate.tribune.com/pressroom/?p=2102
The Towson Times expands coverage beyond the Towson area and includes Baltimore County government and politics. http://www.explorebaltimorecounty.com/
http://www.patuxent.com/publications.html
The Tribune won five Pulitzer prizes in the first decade of the 21st century. Salopek won his second Pulitzer for the Tribune in 2001 for international reporting, and that same year an explanatory reporting team—lead writers of which were Louise Kiernan, Jon Hilkevitch, Laurie Cohen, Robert Manor, Andrew Martin, John Schmeltzer, Alex Rodriguez and Andrew Zajac -- won the honor for a profile of the chaotic U.S. air traffic system. In 2003, editorial writer Cornelia Grumman
Cornelia Grumman
Cornelia Grumman, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, is the Executive Director of the First Five Years Fund . The First Five Years Fund is an education initiative committed to improving the lives of at-risk children by leveraging cost-effective investments in early learning...
snagged the award for editorial writing. In 2005, Julia Keller
Julia Keller
Julia Keller is an American writer. She won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing for her account of the deadly April 2004 Utica, Illinois tornado outbreak, which was published in the Chicago Tribune, where Keller works as cultural critic...
won a Pulitzer for feature reporting on a tornado that struck Utica, Illinois. And, in 2008, an investigative reporting team including Patricia Callahan, Maurice Possley, Sam Roe
Sam Roe
Sam Roe is a Chicago Tribune journalist who was part of a team of reporters that won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for an examination of hazardous toys and other children's products....
, Ted Gregory, Michael Oneal and Evan Osnos
Evan Osnos
Evan Osnos is an American reporter for The New Yorker, based in Beijing.Previously, he was an international correspondent for The Chicago Tribune in Beijing...
won the Pulitzer for its series about faulty government regulation of defective toys, cribs and car seats.
In late 2001, sports columnist Michael Holley
Michael Holley
Michael Holley is an American television and radio sports commentator, sports reporter and author. He formerly wrote columns for the Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, The Plain Dealer, and Akron Beacon Journal.-Career:...
announced he was leaving the Tribune after just two months because he was homesick. He ultimately returned to the Boston Globe, where he had been working immediately before the Tribune had hired him.
On September 15, 2002, Lipinski wrote a terse, page-one note informing readers that the paper's longtime columnist, Bob Greene
Bob Greene
Robert Bernard Greene, Jr. is an American journalist. He worked for 24 years for the Chicago Tribune newspaper, where he was an award-winning columnist. Greene has written books on subjects varying from Michael Jordan, to small towns, to U.S. presidents. His Hang Time: Days and Dreams with Michael...
, resigned effective immediately after acknowledging "engaging in inappropriate sexual conduct some years ago with a girl in her late teens whom he met in connection with his newspaper column." The conduct later was revealed to have occurred in 1988 with a woman who was of the age of consent in Illinois. "Greene's behavior was a serious violation of Tribune ethics and standards for its journalists," Lipinski wrote. "We deeply regret the conduct, its effect on the young woman and the impact this disclosure has on the trust our readers placed in Greene and this newspaper."
In March 2004, the Tribune announced that free-lance reporter Uli Schmetzer, who retired from the Tribune in 2002 after 16 years as a foreign correspondent, had fabricated the name and occupation of a person he had quoted in a story. The paper terminated Schmetzer as a contract reporter and began a review of the 300 stories that Schmetzer had written over the prior three years.
In May 2004, the Tribune revealed that free-lance reporter Mark Falanga was unable to verify some facts that he inserted in a lifestyle-related column that ran on April 18, 2004, about an expensive lunch at a Chicago restaurant—namely, that the restaurant charged $15 for a bottle of water and $35 for a pasta entree. "Upon questioning, the freelance writer indicated the column was based on an amalgam of three restaurants and could not verify the prices," the paper noted. After the correction, the Tribune stopped using Falanga.
In October 2004, Tribune editor Ann Marie Lipinski
Ann Marie Lipinski
Ann Marie Lipinski is a journalist and the curator of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard. She is the former editor of the Chicago Tribune and Vice President for Civic Engagement at the University of Chicago...
at the last minute spiked a story written for the paper's WomanNews section by free-lance reporter Lisa Bertagnoli titled "You c_nt say that (or can you?)," about a noted vulgarism
Vulgarism
A vulgarism , also called scurrility, is a colloquialism of an unpleasant action or unrefined character, which substitutes a coarse, indecorous word where the context might lead the reader to expect a more refined expression.-See also:*Euphemism*Grotesque body*Ribaldry, scatology, toilet...
. The paper ordered every spare body to go to the Tribune's printing plant to pull already-printed WomanNews sections containing the story from the Wednesday, October 27, 2004, package of preprinted sections in the Tribune.
In September 2008, the Tribune considered hiring controversial sports columnist Jay Mariotti
Jay Mariotti
Jay Mariotti is a former national columnist for Fanhouse.com and has done work as a panelist on the ESPN show Around the Horn.-Life and career:...
, shortly after his abrupt resignation from Tribune archrival Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
. Discussions ultimately ended, however, after the Sun-Times threatened to sue for violating Mariotti's noncompete agreement, which was to run until August 2009.
In April 2009, 55 Tribune reporters and editors signed their names to an e-mail sent to Kern and managing editor Jane Hirt, questioning why the newspaper's marketing department had solicited subscribers' opinions on stories before they were published, and suggesting that the practice raised ethical questions as well as legal and competitive issues. Among those who signed off on the e-mail were reporters John D. McCormick
John D. McCormick
John McCormick is a Bloomberg News reporter based in Chicago who covers national politics and government. He followed Barack Obama's presidential bid from its start in February 2007 and traveled with the candidate to nearly 40 states while working for the Chicago Tribune.Obama and McCormick...
and Rick Kogan
Rick Kogan
Rick Kogan is a Chicago newspaperman, a Chicago radio personality and a noted author.- Early life and education :A native of Chicago's Old Town neighborhood, Kogan was born the son of longtime Chicago newspaperman Herman Kogan and longtime Chicago literary and journalism fixture Marilew Kogan...
. Reporters declined to speak on the record to the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
about their issues. "We'll let the e-mail speak for itself," reporter John Chase told the AP. In the wake of the controversy, Kern abruptly discontinued the effort, which he described as "a brief market research project."
In the first decade of the 21st century, the Tribune had multiple rounds of reductions of staff through layoffs and buyouts as it has coped with the industrywide declines in advertising revenues:
- In December 2005, the Tribune eliminated 28 editorial positions through a combination of buyouts and layoffs, including what were believed to be the first layoffs in the paper's history. Among the reporters who left the paper in that round were Carol Kleiman, Bill Jauss and Connie Lauerman.
- In June 2007, about 25 newsroom employees took buyouts, including well-known bylines like Charles MadiganCharles MadiganCharles M. Madigan is an educator who has been an editor, journalist and columnist in Chicago, Illinois.-Life:Madigan grew up in Altoona, Pennsylvania and attended Pennsylvania State University....
, Michael Hirsley and Ronald Kotulak, along with noted photographer Pete SouzaPete SouzaPete Souza is an American photojournalist and the current Chief Official White House photographer for President Barack Obama and Director of the White House Photography Office...
. - In March 2008, the paper gave buyouts to about 25 newsroom employees, including sportswriter Sam Smith.
- On August 15, 2008, the Tribune laid-off more than 40 newsroom and other editorial employees, including reporters Rick Popely, Ray Quintanilla, Lew Freedman, Michael Martinez and Robert Manor; also Gail Glaser and Bodhan Pauk.
- Also in August 2008, about 36 editorial employees took voluntary buyouts or resigned, including well-known bylines like Michael Tackett, Ron Silverman, Timothy McNulty, Ed Sherman, Evan Osnos, Steve Franklin, Maurice Possley, Hanke Gratteau, Chuck Osgood and Skip Myslenski.
- On November 12, 2008, five editorial employees in the paper's Washington, D.C. bureau were laid off, including John Crewdson.
- On December 4, 2008, about 11 newsroom employees were laid-off, with one sports columnist, Mike DowneyMike DowneyMike Downey is an American newspaper columnist.From 2003 to 2008, Downey wrote the "In the Wake of the News" column for the Chicago Tribune originated by Ring Lardner in 1913...
, having departed several weeks earlier when his contract was not renewed. Well-known bylines who were laid off included Neil Milbert, Stevenson Swanson, Lisa Anderson, Phil Marty, Charles Storch, Courtney Flynn and Deborah Horan. - In February 2009, the Tribune laid off about 20 editorial employees, including several foreign correspondents, and some feature reporters and editors, although several, including Charles Leroux and Jeff Lyon, technically took buyouts. Among those who were fired were reporters Emily Nunn, Susan Chandler, Christine Spolar and Joel Greenberg.
- On April 22, 2009, the paper laid off 53 newsroom employees, including well-known bylines like Patrick Reardon, Melissa Isaacson, Russell Working, Jo Napolitano, Susan Diesenhouse, Beth Botts, Lou Carlozo, Jessica Reaves, Tom Hundley, Alan Artner, Eric Benderoff, James P. Miller, Bob Sakamoto, Terry Bannon and John Mullin. That number was less than the 90 newsroom jobs that Crain's Chicago Business previously had reported were to be eliminated.
The Tribune broke the story on Friday, May 29, 2009, that several students had been admitted to the University of Illinois based upon connections or recommendations by the school's Board of Trustees, Chicago politicians, and members of the Rod Blagojevich
Rod Blagojevich
Rod R. Blagojevich is an American politician who served as the 40th Governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. A Democrat, Blagojevich was a State Representative before being elected to the United States House of Representatives representing parts of Chicago...
administration. Initially denying the existence of a so-called "Category I" admissions program, university President B. Joseph "Joe" White and Chancellor Richard Herman later admitted that there were instances of preferential treatment. Although they claimed the list was short and their role was minor, the Tribune, in particular, revealed emails through a FOIA finding that White had received a recommendation for a relative of convicted fundraiser Tony Rezko
Tony Rezko
Antoin "Tony" Rezko is a Assyrian -American businessman, political fundraiser, restaurateur, and real estate developer in Chicago, Illinois, convicted on several counts of fraud and bribery in 2008. Rezko has been involved in fundraising for local Illinois Democratic and Republican politicians...
to be admitted. The Tribune also later posted emails from Herman pushing for underqualified students to be accepted. The Tribune has since filed suit against the University administration under the Freedom of Information Act to acquire the names of students benefited by administrative clout and impropriety.
On February 8, 2010, the Chicago Tribune shrank its newspaper's width by an inch. They cited that the new format was becoming the industry standard and that there would be minimal content changes.
Editorial policy
- The Chicago Tribune believes in the traditional principles of limited government; maximum individual responsibility; minimum restriction of personal liberty, opportunity and enterprise. It believes in free markets, free will and freedom of expression. These principles, while traditionally conservative, are guidelines and not reflexive dogmas.
- The Tribune brings a Midwestern sensibility to public debate. It is suspicious of untested ideas.
- The Tribune places great emphasis on the integrity of government and the private institutions that play a significant role in society. The newspaper does this in the belief that the people cannot consent to be governed unless they have knowledge of, and faith in, the leaders and operations of government. The Tribune embraces the diversity of people and perspectives in its community. It is dedicated to the future of the Chicago region.
The Tribune has remained economically conservative, being widely skeptical of increasing the minimum wage and entitlement spending. Although the Tribune criticized the Bush administration's record on civil liberties, the environment, and many aspects of its foreign policy, it continued to support his presidency while taking Democrats, such as Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich
Rod Blagojevich
Rod R. Blagojevich is an American politician who served as the 40th Governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. A Democrat, Blagojevich was a State Representative before being elected to the United States House of Representatives representing parts of Chicago...
and Cook County Board President Todd Stroger
Todd Stroger
Todd H. Stroger is the former president of the Cook County, Illinois Board and a former alderman for the 8th Ward in Chicago. Stroger is a member of the Democratic Party. In 2001, he was appointed to the Chicago City Council by Richard M. Daley...
, to task and calling for their removal from office.
In 2004, the Tribune endorsed President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
for re-election, a decision consistent with its longstanding support for the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
. The Chicago Tribune endorsed Chicago area politician and Illinois junior U.S. Senator Barack Obama in 2008.
The Tribune has previously backed independent candidates. In 1872, it supported Horace Greeley
Horace Greeley
Horace Greeley was an American newspaper editor, a founder of the Liberal Republican Party, a reformer, a politician, and an outspoken opponent of slavery...
, a former Republican Party newspaper editor, and in 1912 the paper endorsed Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
, who ran on the Progressive Party
Progressive Party (United States, 1912)
The Progressive Party of 1912 was an American political party. It was formed after a split in the Republican Party between President William Howard Taft and former President Theodore Roosevelt....
slate against Republican President William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
.
Over the years, the Tribune has endorsed Democrats for lesser offices, including recent endorsements of Bill Foster
Bill Foster (Illinois politician)
George William "Bill" Foster is a physicist and businessman, and the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 2008 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party.-Early life and education:...
, Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
for the Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
and Democrat Melissa Bean
Melissa Bean
Melissa Luburich Bean is a former U.S. Representative for the who served from 2005 until 2011. She is a member of the Democratic Party.-Early life, education and career:...
, who defeated Philip Crane, the House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
' longest-serving Republican. Though the Tribune endorsed George Ryan
George Ryan
George Homer Ryan, Sr. was the 39th Governor of the U.S. state of Illinois from 1999 until 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party. Ryan became nationally known when in 2000 he imposed a moratorium on executions and "raised the national debate on capital punishment"...
in the 1998 Illinois gubernatorial race, the paper subsequently investigated and reported on the scandals surrounding Ryan during his preceding years as Secretary of State. Ryan declined to stand for re-election in 2002 and was subsequently indicted, convicted and imprisoned as a result of the scandal.
Tribune Company
The Chicago Tribune is the founding business unit of Tribune CompanyTribune Company
The Tribune Company is a large American multimedia corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. It is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, with ten daily newspapers and commuter tabloids including Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Hartford Courant, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida...
, which includes many newspapers and television stations around the country. In Chicago, Tribune owns the WGN
WGN (AM)
WGN is a radio station in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It is the only radio station owned by the Tribune Company, which also owns the flagship television station WGN-TV, the Chicago Tribune newspaper and Chicago magazine locally. WGN's transmitter is located in Elk Grove Village, Illinois...
radio station (720 AM) and WGN-TV
WGN-TV
WGN-TV, virtual channel 9 , is the CW-affiliated television station in Chicago, Illinois built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WGN-TV's studios and offices are located at 2501 W...
(Channel 9). Tribune Company also owns the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
-- which displaced the Tribune as the company's largest property—and the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
team. The Cubs were sold in 2009.
Tribune Company owned The New York Daily News from its 1919 founding until its 1991 sale to Robert Maxwell
Robert Maxwell
Ian Robert Maxwell MC was a Czechoslovakian-born British media proprietor and former Member of Parliament , who rose from poverty to build an extensive publishing empire...
. The founder of the News, Capt. Joseph Patterson and Col. McCormick, were both descendants of Medill. Both were also enthusiasts of simplified spelling
Spelling
Spelling is the writing of one or more words with letters and diacritics. In addition, the term often, but not always, means an accepted standard spelling or the process of naming the letters...
, another hallmark of their papers for many years. Tribune Company sold the Long Island newspaper Newsday
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
in 2008.
Since 1925, the Chicago Tribune has been housed in the Tribune Tower
Tribune Tower
The Tribune Tower is a neo-Gothic building located at 435 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Tribune and Tribune Company. WGN Radio also broadcasts from the building, with ground-level studios overlooking nearby Pioneer Court and Michigan Avenue. CNN's...
on North Michigan Avenue
Michigan Avenue (Chicago)
Michigan Avenue is a major north-south street in Chicago which runs at 100 east south of the Chicago River and at 132 East north of the river from 12628 south to 950 north in the Chicago street address system...
on the Magnificent Mile
Magnificent Mile
The Magnificent Mile, sometimes referred to as The Mag Mile, is a neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois, that runs along a portion of Michigan Avenue extending from the Chicago River to Oak Street in the Near North Side community area. The district is located adjacent to downtown; it is also one block...
. The building is neo-Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
in style, and the design was the winner of an international competition hosted by the Tribune.
On June 25, 2008, the Tribune company announced they had hired a real estate company to entertain bids of the sale of both the Tribune Tower in Chicago, and the Times Building in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Times, is also owned by the Tribune Company.
Current
- Brad Biggs
- Steve ChapmanSteve ChapmanProfessor Stephen Kenneth Chapman FRSE FRSC CChem PhD is Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh.-Early life:...
- David HaughDavid HaughDavid Haugh is an award-winning sports writer with the Chicago Tribune. He began his career at the South Bend Tribune in Indiana, working there for nearly a decade before joining the Chicago Tribune as the paper's Chicago Bears beat writer...
- John KassJohn KassJohn Kass is a Chicago Tribune columnist.The son of a Greek immigrant grocer, Kass was born June 25, 1956, on the South Side of Chicago and grew up there and in Oak Lawn, IL. He held many jobs - retailer, ditch digger, waiter - before becoming a student of film at Columbia College in Chicago...
- Clarence PageClarence PageClarence Page is an American journalist, syndicated columnist, and senior member of The Chicago Tribune editorial board.-Early years:...
- Dawn Turner Trice
- Phil RosenthalPhil RosenthalPhil Rosenthal is the lead business columnist for the Chicago Tribune. He joined the newspaper as its media columnist in the spring of 2005, and was promoted in June 2011...
- Mary SchmichMary SchmichMary Theresa Schmich is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune.Born in Savannah, Georgia, the oldest of eight children, Schmich grew up in Georgia, attended high school in Phoenix, Arizona, and earned a B.A...
- Eric ZornEric ZornEric Zorn, born January 6, 1958, is a columnist and a blogger for the Chicago Tribune.Zorn is a 1980 graduate of the University of Michigan, where he was an arts section editor at the Michigan Daily and a creative writing/English literature major. After he had served a four-month internship at the...
Past
- Ring LardnerRing LardnerRinggold Wilmer Lardner was an American sports columnist and short story writer best known for his satirical takes on the sports world, marriage, and the theatre.-Personal life:...
– deceased - Ann Landers – deceased
- Mike RoykoMike RoykoMichael "Mike" Royko was a newspaper columnist in Chicago, who won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for commentary...
– deceased - Arch WardArch WardArch Ward was the sports editor for the Chicago Tribune and personal friend of the owner, Robert R. McCormick. He created the MLB All-Star Game, the All-America Football Conference , the Golden Gloves amateur boxing tournament and the College All-Star Game. Ward was twice offered the job as...
– deceased - David Condon – deceased
- Bob GreeneBob GreeneRobert Bernard Greene, Jr. is an American journalist. He worked for 24 years for the Chicago Tribune newspaper, where he was an award-winning columnist. Greene has written books on subjects varying from Michael Jordan, to small towns, to U.S. presidents. His Hang Time: Days and Dreams with Michael...
- Bob Verdi
- Skip BaylessSkip BaylessSkip Bayless is an American journalist and television personality. Bayless regularly appears on ESPN2's ESPN First Take and its afternoon show 1st and 10. Bayless previously wrote regular columns for ESPN.com and its "Page 2" section.-Schooling and family:Bayless was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma...
- Terry Armour – deceased
- Charles MadiganCharles MadiganCharles M. Madigan is an educator who has been an editor, journalist and columnist in Chicago, Illinois.-Life:Madigan grew up in Altoona, Pennsylvania and attended Pennsylvania State University....
- Mike DowneyMike DowneyMike Downey is an American newspaper columnist.From 2003 to 2008, Downey wrote the "In the Wake of the News" column for the Chicago Tribune originated by Ring Lardner in 1913...
- Gene SiskelGene SiskelEugene Kal "Gene" Siskel was an American film critic and journalist for the Chicago Tribune. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted the popular review show Siskel & Ebert At the Movies from 1975 until his death....
– deceased - William ArmstrongWilliam Armstrong (music critic)William Armstrong was an American music critic, lecturer, and writer.-Life:Armstrong was born in 1858 in Frederick County, Maryland. As a child, he received piano lessons in Stuttgart, Germany...
2008 redesign
The September 2008 redesign (discussed here on the TribuneChapter 11 bankruptcy protection
After a $124 million dollar third-quarter loss, the Tribune Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on December 8, 2008. The company made its filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, citing a debt of $13 billion and assets of $7.6 billion.As part of its bankruptcy plan, owner Sam Zell intended to sell the Cubs to reduce debt. This sale has become linked to the corruption charges leading to the December 9, 2008, arrest of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich
Rod Blagojevich
Rod R. Blagojevich is an American politician who served as the 40th Governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. A Democrat, Blagojevich was a State Representative before being elected to the United States House of Representatives representing parts of Chicago...
. Specifically, the ex-governor was accused of exploiting the paper's financial trouble in an effort to have several editors fired.
Prices
The Tribune prices are: $1 Daily, $1.99/$1.75 Sunday. The Tribune on weekdays was $0.75 until January 18, 2010, when it was raised to $1.See also
- Chicago Tribune Silver BasketballChicago Tribune Silver BasketballThe Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball was an award that was presented annually by the Chicago Tribune to the Most Valuable Player of the Big Ten Conference for both men's and women's basketball in the United States through 2007. The Chicago Tribune awarded the Silver Basketball for men's basketball...
- Chicago Tribune Silver FootballChicago Tribune Silver FootballThe Chicago Tribune Silver Football is awarded by the Chicago Tribune to the college football player determined to be the best player from the Big Ten Conference. The award has been presented annually since 1924, when Red Grange of Illinois was the award's first recipient.The winner of the Silver...
External links
- Chicago Tribune newspaper web site
- Chicago Tribune newspaper mobile web site
- Chicago Tribune Archives (1852 to present)
- Tribune Company corporate web site
- Tribune Group Overview (external corporate profile)
- Janet A. Ginsburg Chicago Tribune Collection (1880s to 1940s) (searchable database of 12,000 images on 5,500 pages, digitized and available for all educational uses worldwide)