CLTV: Cubbieland Television

We certainly enjoyed the delightful banter between Tribune-employed meteorologist Tim McGill and Tribune-employed anchorwoman Tanya Francisco on Tribune-owned CLTV this morning. See, Tim was especially interested in how sunny and warm it was going to be because he was going to the Tribune-owned Cubs game at Tribune-owned Wrigley Field. Tanya asked Tim where his seats are. Tim said near the bullpen. "Better take some sunscreen," cautioned Tanya, expressing her insider's knowledge of The Shrine.

We've heard this dialogue on CLTV before, almost as if it's scripted, but strangely, we've never heard Tanya nor Tim nor any of the other CLTV stars chatting about visits to White Sox games. Why is that?

CLTV describes itself as "ChicagoLand's only 24-hour regional news, weather, sports and information channel. CLTV brings viewers continuous coverage of Chicagoland's news that is convenient, up-to-the-minute, straightforward and accurate."

That makes them sound like pretty serious journalists. Outside of the Tribune Tower, serious journalists pride themselves on independence from commercial interests. The Tribune Company's greatest contribution to American journalism has been selling it out.