Day in the Life of Tribune Spin Machine

Tribune columnist Fred Mitchell sees cheery happy fuzzy cute parallels between the fan who charged Bobby Howry at Wrigley on Monday and a play now running at a North Side theater:

Life imitated art Monday night when a fan ran out onto the field in the ninth inning at Wrigley Field as the Cubs faced Colorado.

Currently showing at Chicago's Victory Gardens Theater is "I Sailed with Magellan".... The show includes a scene in which Uncle Lefty—a free-spirited jazz man and Cubs fan played by actor Lance Baker—jumps out of the Wrigley bleachers and runs on the field to shake Willie Mays' hand.

He is taken out by a Wrigley Field security guard, and Uncle Lefty is promptly incarcerated into a "loony bin."

Yeah, that's it! Brent Kowalkoski was running out there to shake Bobby's hand. That's the ticket. Cub fans are just so Disney-delightful that they especially want to shake the hands of Cub pitchers who give up homeruns, and the lead, in the top of the ninth. That Cub fan who attacked Randy Myers on the mound in a previous incident was probably also just looking for a nice handshake.

But we couldn't expect Fred and his Tribune co-conspirators to show such largesse to troublesome fans on the Southside. No. Southside bad. Southside evil. Northside happy! Wrigley wonderful! Handshakes for everyone!

Hoy Vey

Meanwhile, the Spanish-language newspaper Hoy treated Spanish-speaking readers to a feature on Carlos Zambrano, including a front-page color photo over the fold and a full-size back-page color photo. The feature is part of Hoy's ongoing nationwide series, "Conoce a tus Cubs," in which the Tribune-owned Hoy newspapers are exclusively promoting the Tribune-owned team in gross violation of the most important ethical principles of American journalism.

But Wait, There's More

Frank Thomas, for a long time the greatest baseball player in Chicago, hit his 500th homerun this week. The Tribune headline:

"Former Sox standout hits 500th Homer."

Former Sox Standout? Here's the headline they gave Sammy:

"SAMMY SOSA SLAMS NO. 600"

Yes, in ALL CAPS.

Tribune Columnist Phlip-Phlop Rogers writes about Thomas' 500th as if it's an obituary and makes sure to include Ken Williams' full "idiot" quote from last year. For Sosa, he made excuses:

In 2004, his final season with the Cubs, Sosa hit 35 homers in 126 games, production that so disappointed him he ducked out of the clubhouse early on the last day, angered his manager, Dusty Baker and set in motion a trade that sent him to Baltimore.

Let's see. That's Fred, Phlip, Hoy — wonder what Gonzo's up to. In his mailbag, the Tribune's beat-Sox reporter, Mark Gonzales, can't wait to bury all memory of 2005. John Browning of Flemington, N.J. writes in to ask, "When was the last time the Sox had a stretch when they went 6-22? (I'm guessing 1968). Do you think its time to re-design the Sox uniform?"

Gonzales' reply:

I think it's time to change the introductory music and clips on the scoreboard, unless they want to start playing Jethro Tull's "Living in the Past."

Har. If Gonzo doesn't know when the Sox last had a 6-22 stretch and doesn't feel like looking it up, fine. But then why include the question? He just gives a sub-witty answer to the nothing part of the question, and it makes him seem underqualified for and disinterested in his job.

Brett Ballantini and William Melvin contributed to this entry.

Tribune Promotes 'Los Cubs' Nationwide

If you happen to be a Spanish speaker living in South Florida, you might find yourself wondering why you're reading a regular feature in your local newspaper, El Sentinel, called "Know Your Cubs."

The Tribune's new weekly feature Conoce a Tus Cubs is not only appearing as editorial content in Hoy, the Tribune-owned Spanish daily in Chicago, and simultaneously as promotional content at the Cubs' Spanish website, it's also appearing in Tribune-owned newspapers and websites from sea to shining sea. Click the images to the right to see Conoces a Tus Cubs in El Sentinel of South Florida and at the homepage shared by the Hoy newspapers in Los Angeles and New York. (Tribune sold Hoy Nueva York yesterday, so expect that newspaper to excuse itself from this sleazy affair when it changes hands).

This should erase any doubts anyone has ever had about the Tribune's willingness to exploit its editorial resources to promote its financial interests. The Cubs are for sale. A higher profile among Latino fans nationwide certainly won't hurt the price.

Hoy Chicago Editor Alejandro Escalona has not returned a message we left him, but reporter Jose Luis Sanchez told us that Hoy is working to have a similar feature for the White Sox. Sanchez did not respond when we asked him when work on the Sox series would actually begun. If it ever does, will the Tribune promote the White Sox in New York, Los Angeles, and South Florida? We're looking forward to seeing that.

Some of you may be wondering, why shouldn't the Tribune be able to use editorial space to promote a baseball team it owns? Here's why:

"Journalists should avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived, remain free of associations and activities that may compromise integrity or damage credibility, disclose unavoidable conflicts, deny favored treatment to advertisers and special interests and resist their pressure to influence news coverage.." -- the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics

Tribune Uses Hoy To Promote Cubs Only

Even though Tribune officials routinely deny a pro-Cubs bias, their true colors show wherever they think we're not looking — in the Tribune's Spanish-language media, for example.

Hoy, a Tribune-owned Spanish-language daily, recently launched an ongoing full-page feature called "Conoce a tus Cubs" — Know Your Cubs. Hoy has no such feature for the White Sox.

"Conoce a tus Cubs" is an obvious effort to counter the White Sox's advantage among Latino fans — an advantage built in part upon a history of great Latin players like Luis Aparicio, Minnie Minoso, Jorge Orta, and Ozzie Guillen.

In its campaign to overtake Latino Chicago, Tribune lets no journalistic principle stand in its way. It blurs the lines between journalism and advertising and between reporter and subject:.

Above the headline of Thursday's story in the paper edition of Hoy — an interview with Cub Ronny Cedeño — appears the Cubs logo, the URL of the Cubs' Spanish-language webpage, and an ad for Chevy, framed in ivy. Yet the feature is no advertisement: Hoy promotes it with a front-page puff box, a practice reserved for editorial content.

If we do happen to pay a visit to LosCubs.com, we also find "Conoce a tus Cubs" featured there as an integral part of the Cubs website. Try to imagine the Tribune running parts of the White Sox website in their editorial space, packaging it as news. Hard to imagine? That's exactly what Tribune-owned Hoy is doing for the Tribune-owned Cubs, and to the exclusion of the White Sox. Balance? Fairness? No, greed rules the Tower.

Conoce a tu Tribune, amigos. Es sucio.