Truth in Advertising: The Wrigleyville Tribune
The Peace and Education Coalition has offered a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the rapist who assaulted two girls in the Back of the Yards neighborhood this month, according to the Sun-Times and NBC5. But you won't read about that reward in the Tribune.
As we have documented many times, the Tribune often posts front-page community alerts on its website, sometimes accompanied by video reports and sketches of the suspect, for sexual assaults that occur on the North Side (especially Wrigleyville), but rarely, if ever, for sexual assaults that occur on the South Side. The Tribune covered the Back of the Yards attacks only after the second one occurred and residents called a community meeting. Had the Tribune given the first attack the attention it gives to attacks in Wrigleyville, perhaps the second would not have occurred. The responsibility for publicizing crime rests at least as much on the press as on the police.
The Tribune's emphasis is clear. It favors the North Side, and particularly Wrigleyville. Since some Tribune stories essentially consist of advertisements for Tribune properties, like Careerbuilder, the Cubs, and Wrigley Field, can we use truth-in-advertising laws to require the paper to rename itself more truthfully?
Hard to Shake Suspect Synergies
Mary Ellen Podmolik has a makeup story (you know, like a makeup quiz after you bomb the first one) in today's Chicago Tribune about some Super Bowl advertisers not owned by the Tribune Company. Better late than never, Mary Ellen. But remarkably, the piece is accompanied online by the WGN news segment that focuses exclusively on Tribune-owned Careerbuilder without disclosing the conflict of interest (WGN is also owned by Tribune). That unethical report has spread like a virus. It has now aired on WGN, CLTV, and Chicagotribune.com. Sometimes ethics just can't get the better of Tribune "synergies."
As we have documented many times, the Tribune often posts front-page community alerts on its website, sometimes accompanied by video reports and sketches of the suspect, for sexual assaults that occur on the North Side (especially Wrigleyville), but rarely, if ever, for sexual assaults that occur on the South Side. The Tribune covered the Back of the Yards attacks only after the second one occurred and residents called a community meeting. Had the Tribune given the first attack the attention it gives to attacks in Wrigleyville, perhaps the second would not have occurred. The responsibility for publicizing crime rests at least as much on the press as on the police.
The Tribune's emphasis is clear. It favors the North Side, and particularly Wrigleyville. Since some Tribune stories essentially consist of advertisements for Tribune properties, like Careerbuilder, the Cubs, and Wrigley Field, can we use truth-in-advertising laws to require the paper to rename itself more truthfully?
Hard to Shake Suspect Synergies
Mary Ellen Podmolik has a makeup story (you know, like a makeup quiz after you bomb the first one) in today's Chicago Tribune about some Super Bowl advertisers not owned by the Tribune Company. Better late than never, Mary Ellen. But remarkably, the piece is accompanied online by the WGN news segment that focuses exclusively on Tribune-owned Careerbuilder without disclosing the conflict of interest (WGN is also owned by Tribune). That unethical report has spread like a virus. It has now aired on WGN, CLTV, and Chicagotribune.com. Sometimes ethics just can't get the better of Tribune "synergies."
Labels: advertorial, Careerbuilder, Chicago Tribune, CLTV, sexual assault, WGN
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