Propaganda Machine Rolls On

TOURIST ALERT: Fan on field at U.S. Cellular! Sure it's a laughing girl this time, but next time who knows — it might be one of those armed bank robbers! Why does the Tribune publish photos of fans on the field at U.S. Cellular, but never at Wrigley? Because it feeds a favorite story line — that U.S. Cellular is dangerous, unstable, anything can happen, so the tourists from Iowa probably shouldn't venture too far from "the friendly confines." That's also why the Tribune covers every development in the life of William Ligue but none in the life of Ronald Camacho. It's why the Tribune takes pains to dissociate Wrigley from the murders of fans leaving Cubs games but liberally attaches much less serious crimes to the Cell. It's why the Tribune greeted fans arriving for the playoffs in 2005 with a front-page story about poverty and pot smoking in Armour Square. Much less coverage was given to the body found in a Wrigley Field Honeyhut with a needle stuck in its arm. It's probably also why Tribune reporters and photographers averted their eyes this April, when Cubs fans were already throwing trash on the field at Wrigley. And hey, whatever happened to that lady who — in perhaps the most accurate pitch thrown by anyone in a Cubs cap last year — nearly took off Jacque Jones' head? The Cubune should have signed her up, but instead they covered it up.

We're not sure how the crack investigative team at the Tribune missed this fans-on-the-field scandal at Comiskey: