March of the Undead

News that Tribune fired rebellious LA Times editor Dean Baquet broke on election day, an assassination that appears timed so the controversy would vanish under the flood of election news. That's just the sort of media manipulation reporters dislike.

This is like yet another sequel to "Night of the Living Dead," in which creatures who march dumbly across the surface of the nation, creatures who look like journalists -- indeed, creatures who once were journalists -- are really zombies who eat journalists.

And the real journalists who are being eaten by Tribune increasingly don't like seeing their arms and legs ripped off and swallowed:

Many in the newspaper business ... reacted with surprise and disgust at what they saw as a strike against journalistic excellence in favor of bottom line finances. With reports revealing that Baquet apparently lost his job after refusing to implement potential future reductions sought by Tribune Co., and new publisher David Hiller, colleagues and others in the newspaper business contend the situation was a slap in the face to editorial quality. (Editor & Publisher)

Some billionares from LA lauched a bid today to buy Tribune and rescue the Times. Please boys, while you're at it, don't forget about Chicago. Imagine a Chicago with diverse media, without collusion between print and broadcast, without collusion between reporting and marketing. Imagine a Chicago in which someone like, say, Ernie Banks owns the Cubs. (Banks tried to buy the Cubs from Tribune last year). Who could object to that?

We'd like to see the empire busted up. Newspapers carved away from television and radio stations, and Cubs firmly separated from any media. Something must be done. The Tribune is not just out of touch with Chicago, not just out of touch with America, it's out of touch with what it means to be a good newspaper.