Tribune: All the News that Makes Us Richer

On page 5 of the Tempo section in today's Tribune we find a charming feature about some people who built a one-third-size replica of Wrigley Field in Freeport, IL. But we don't know anything about those people except for one name — Denny Garkey — and the word "organizers." And the story doesn't tell us anything about the community that hosts the field. Instead of emphasizing the people who built this field or the community in which they built it, the Tribune predictably emphasizes itself. That is to say, it emphasizes its own assets, without disclosing that they are assets, and at a time, we note, when those assets are for sale.

The first paragraph, ostensibly describing the mini-field, mentions the Cubs, Wrigley Field, the "Friendly Confines," the green scoreboard, the red marquee sign, and the WGN press box. Need we remind you that Tribune owns WGN?

The second paragraph mentions a person, Dutchie Caray, whom it describes as "the widow of famed Cubs announcer Harry Caray." If the Tribune didn't constantly promote its selective memory of Harry's biography, he might be more appropriately described as the larger Chicago area actually remembers him: "famed White Sox and Cubs announcer Harry Caray."

The third paragraph mentions those anonymous "organizers" of the new field in the course of getting to another mention of Tribune-owned Wrigley Field. Did we mention it's for sale?

And then, best of all, the final paragraph is devoted to the billy goat curse, the Tribune's favorite strategy, for the last quarter century, to attract fans to a losing team. The lovable losers, cursed by a goat.

The story hardly manages to be about its topic — the miniature field — at all, and never gets around to asking the "organizers" why they built it, how they raised the money, how the community has reacted, etc.

And most importantly, the story never discloses that the Tribune owns the assets it is describing, despite ethical codes and a Tribune policy requiring such a disclosure. Why is it important to include such a disclosure in such a cute little feature story? Because as a Tribune editorial recently admitted, "The future of our parent company—conceivably, the future of our jobs—rests to some unknowable extent on the successful sale of the Cubs and Wrigley Field, and the resulting reduction of corporate debt. "

-- Patrick Sheehan

Tribune Boosts Tribune... At Fans' Expense

And you thought it was a tragedy that the Cubbies were swept out of the playoffs? Not at all, says the corporate octopus, as a suction-cupped tentacle slips quietly into each of your pockets to rummage for change. The Tribune-owned Cubs' amazing survival in a division in which every other team collapsed led to high ratings for Tribune-owned WGN (a clever acronym that means World's Greediest Newspaper). Now that's what the Tribune calls "lovable losing!"

The Tribune loves Cubbie losing because as long as the Cubbies lose, the Tribune can't lose. Here's the first line of the radio ratings story that ran this morning:

The Cubs' charge to the playoffs may have ended in more heartbreak for fans, but it lifted WGN-AM 720 to another first-place finish in the Arbitron radio ratings released Monday.

Now here's the same story in 2006:

Despite the Chicago Cubs' last-place finish, their radio station WGN-AM 720 held onto first place overall in third-quarter ratings.

The Tribune wins when the Cubbies finish in last place. The Tribune wins when the Cubbies finish in first place ... and then lose. The only real losers are the Cubs and their "heartbroken" fans.

So come on, now, everybody sing:

And we'll lose-lose-lose for the Tribune, if they don't profit it's a shame, for it's one, two, three strikes you're out in the newspaper game!

Dissed Again? We're Used to It.

It's almost funny to read the Tribune's feigned indignation about ESPN leaving the White Sox off of a poll about Chicago teams ("South Siders Get Dissed Again," July 14). What the Tribune really seems to be saying, with this story, is "See, we're not the only ones." Or "See, it's not our fault — it's endemic to the White Sox." But why oh why would anyone expect a national media organization like ESPN — a national organization that openly embraces bias, we might add — to identify the White Sox with Chicago when Chicago's own media don't identify the White Sox with Chicago.

Particularly those Cubs-owning media, like the Chicago Tribune and Superstation WGN, that represent Chicago on the national stage.

A Slight Acquaintance with Ethics

Today New York Times theater critic Ben Brantley discloses in a review that he knows Joan Didion, the author whose memoir and life inspired the play Brantley is reviewing.

Brantley writes, "For the record I have a slight social acquaintance with Ms. Didion." A slight social acquaintance. At moments like these I can't help but think of our own small-town rag, The Chicago Tribune, which printed an 8,000-word series about a Field Museum project without disclosing that managing editor James O'Shea was married to the Field Museum's publicist, or that president of Tribune publishing Jack Fuller was dating a Field Museum scientist featured in the series.

The Tribune is Dirty. It's as dirty as an El station elevator. I don't know how they can still deny it. The evidence is overwhelming. We object to this sort of thing routinely on this page, because it happens so often with the Cubs. The examples are preserved in print for ethicists to study in the Tribune autopsies of the future:

Tribune Architecture Critic Blair Kamin writing an absurdly saccharine review of the new bleachers at Wrigley Field — without disclosing that he is directly invested in that building, not just as an employee of the company that owns it, but as a stockholder. (Because Tribune employees receive Tribune stock in their benefits).

Tribune Business Correspondent David W. Greising writing that the White Sox aren't as "big" as the Cubs just days after the Sox won the World Series — without disclosing that he is directly invested in the baseball market, not just as an employee of the company that owns the Cubs, but as a stockholder.

Chicago Magazine Editor Richard Babcock steering tourists to Wrigley Field in the magazine's tourism edition — but wait, there's more — and steering those who can't get a ticket to his own office building, the Tribune Store in the Tribune Tower, to buy a Cubs cap to wear while watching the game on television (on WGN, no doubt) — without disclosing that he is directly invested in the Cubs, not just as an employee of the company that owns them, but as a stockholder.

"But wait!" the suits are howling, in their joint offices in the Tribune Tower, "Chicago Magazine is different from the Chicago Tribune!"

If only it were. It's all one big ethically-compromised monolith of mediocrity. Consider:

WGN reporter Muriel Clair producing a "news" segment about Careerbuilder's new ad campaign right before the campaign's Super Bowl debut, without disclosing that both WGN and Careerbuilder are owned by the Tribune Company, meaning that Clair is invested in Careerbuilder, not just as an employee of the company that owns it, but as a stockholder. The unethical report was then repeated on Tribune-owned CLTV and embedded on the front page of chicagotribune.com. It's all one big ethically-compromised monolith of mediocrity.

Dirtier than the doormat it lands on.

Some Good News and Some Bad News

First the good news: According to the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times — both of which cover the Tribune better than the Tribune covers the Tribune — it now appears likely that the Tribune will split its broadcast division away from its newspaper division and sell the broadcast arm to someone else.

According to the LA Times, the Chicago Cubs are part of the broadcast division.

That could mean a newspaper free of its unethical alliance with a baseball team, as well as a break in the newspaper-tv-radio media monopoly that smothers Chicago with mediocrity.

Chances are a new owner for WGN won't be much more colorful or imaginative than Tribune, but at least it will be someone other than Tribune.

Now the bad news: Under this scenario, WGN's unethical alliance with the Cubs would continue, and we really have no assurance that anything substantive would change. After 25 years of collusion between the Tribune and Cubs, can we really expect the newsroom culture to change? Not without a purge. Old habits die hard, and we're talking about a group of people fanatically committed to publicly promoting their strange attitudes as reality.

We would rather see the whole corporation split apart, purged of its unethical tendencies, and rebuilt under new ownership. But that scenario looks unlikely now, and we'll take what we can get.

Also, we can't be certain the Cubs will go with the broadcast stations. The New York Times seems to be under the impression that even if the broadcast division is split off from the newspaper division, the Cubs will go with the newspapers. That's probably because the profitable Cubs could help offset the shrinking value of the newspapers. Yep, dupes and drunks in Wrigleyville, now subsizing "journalism."

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."

WGN Joins Tribune Promotion of Careerbuilder

Tribune-owned WGN is now promoting Tribune-owned Careerbuilder's new advertising campaign as a news story, without disclosing that both WGN and Careerbuilder are owned by Tribune Company, a disclosure required by the ethics policies that you can read on the right-hand column of this page.

WGN's News at Noon covered Careerbuilder's new campaign today as a Super Bowl story, but did not cover any of the other companies that will advertise during the Super Bowl, except for a passing mention of Anheuser-Busch. The WGN story included an interview with an executive from Cramer-Krasselt, an advertising agency with a fat Tribune contract, and an executive from Careerbuilder — in other words, a Tribune executive. The reporter was WGN's Muriel Clair.

The unethical report was then rebroadcast on Tribune-owned CLTV.

The WGN story comes on the heels of a Chicago Tribune "news" package that misled readers by suggesting Careerbuilder is the leading job-search site. It's not. But the Tribune Company seems to be marshaling all of its journalistic resources to make the deception come true.

Tribune journalists routinely defend themselves from bias charges by claiming that the Tribune Company and each of its subsidiaries are completely separate and distinct. Does Tribune expect us to believe it's merely a coincidence that both the Chicago Tribune and WGN newsrooms are hyping Careerbuilder's new advertising campaign right before its Super Bowl debut?

Are we supposed to believe that both Tribune-owned newsrooms independently decided that Tribune-owned Careerbuilder is the only newsworthy Super Bowl advertiser?

What's Love Got to Do With It?

The Tribune generates revenue from the Cubs by using both its marketing and its reporting media to generate a mystique that defies the reality of the team and its stadium. If they can get people to believe the mystique, the reality is no longer an obstacle to profit. For example, as long as Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin describes Wrigley Field as "a sacred garden," and as long as Tribune media repeat that notion again and again, it becomes possible to fill Wrigley Field regardless of the fact that the tickets are overpriced, the food sucks, the stadium is ugly and crumbling, and you can't see all of the field from many of the seats. But people still fill Wrigley. Mystique beats reality.

Another example of this Tribune strategy is the wobbly notion of "lovability." Take a look:

WGN's advertising jingle for Cubs' baseball is titled "Everybody Loves the Cubs!" It's quite clearly a lie, since half of Chicago despises the Cubs, but that's what marketing does, it creates profitable deceptions. The profitable deception of lovability begins to take the shape of an advertising campaign when we notice that the WGN jingle connects to the Cubs' popular nickname: the lovable losers. The strategy is clear: if they can get Chicagoans to believe that everybody loves the team because it loses, they no longer need victories to fill their stadium or their bank account.

Who created the nickname "lovable losers"? It hardly matters. The Tribune has taken it up in a big way. The phrase "lovable losers" appears 289 times in the Tribune newspaper archive. It's safe to assume the phrase is repeated as often on WGN and all of the empire's other television, radio, newspaper, magazine, and internet properties.

So a deception created by Tribune marketing gets repeated in Tribune reporting, driving the message into the community. Then when reality rears its ugly head, when actual threats appear to the Tribune's financial dominance, marketing and reporting alike fall back on those carefully manufactured deceptions.

For example, in August a study of sports-franchise popularity showed the Cubs and White Sox in a virtual tie in Chicago. The difference between the two teams was "statistically insignificant," meaning that the margin of error in the poll was larger than any difference between the two teams. A statistical dead heat can only be reported as a tie, as any competent journalist knows, but when the Tribune reported on the poll, Tribune reporter David Haugh's lede included this statement: "the Cubs can still lay claim to being the most lovable baseball team in town."

Ah, there's lovability again. What's love got to do with it? Faced with actual statistical evidence that counteracts its financial interests, the Tribune reports the marketing lie instead.

Excellent, ethical newspapers maintain as sturdy a wall as possible between reporting and marketing. At Tribune, there is no wall.


P.S. Just to underscore the depths of the Tribune's deception, subsequent polls have shown the White Sox firmly winning the popularity contest in Chicago, including television ratings demonstrating that more Chicagoans tuned in to see the White Sox than the Cubs on WGN. So "everybody loves the Cubs on WGN" except for the majority of WGN baseball viewers, who prefer the White Sox. And the Tribune ignored a Sports Illustrated poll showing that baseball fans vastly prefer U.S. Cellular Field to Blair Kamin's sacred garden.

Leading Sheep to Slaughter

We have to wonder whether the large crowds at Tribune-owned Wrigley Field could be related to constant Cubs promotion from Tribune employees working undercover as journalists who are supposed to be providing vital information to Chicagoland residents. For example, today the "news staff" at Tribune-owned CLTV provided a special weather report for the Cubs game -- I've never seen them do this for a Sox game -- and then in the typical cute banter between meteorologist (Tim McGill) and anchor (Tanya Francisco), the anchor lamented that she couldn't attend today's Cubs game. I've never seen a CLTV anchor say such a thing about a Sox game either. This also seems to be standard practice on Tribune-owned WGN radio. WGN personalities often identify themselves with Cubs fans, or lament the team's losses, or banter about a trip to the ballpark. It's just not appropriate for journalists to promote business interests in this way while they're engaged in the serious business of informing the public. The Tribune has made it standard practice in Chicago, which is sad for Chicago and sad for American journalism.

More Tribune Meltdowns

Sometimes when we read about the previous day's game in the Tribune, we wonder if the reporter was covering a different game. Yesterday first-base umpire Dale Scott made two umpiring errors in the fifth inning that led to four Twins runs. Without those four runs, the Twins don't win that game. Tribune reporter Mark Gonzalez doesn't even mention the first of those errors, and he doesn't get to the second error until the sixth paragraph of his story. Instead he characterizes the ugly inning as a "meltdown" by Sox pitcher Javier Vazquez. It's hardly a meltdown if the umpire gives the opposing team two extra hits and two extra outs.

Vazquez (4-2) didn't earn either of his two losses this year. He should be 6-0. As much as the Tribune loves a meltdown (see their North Side team), Vazquez is not meltdown material.

The All-Seeing Corporate Eye

Of 14 Cubs games that will be broadcast on WGN in September, 10 of them are day games. WGN is leaving most of the Cubs' September night games to WCIU and Comcast Sportsnet. What does this mean? It means that some suit in the Tribune Tower predicted months ago that viewers would be more interested in prime-time sitcoms than in the Cubs in September. Hmm. So some suit at the Tribune predicted months ago that the Cubs were going to field a loser this year.

I can't take credit for this clever analysis of WGN's scheduling choices. It comes from Tribune reporter Paul Sullivan, who uttered it during an interview last week on The Score.

Voice of the Cubune, Singing

I was just spinning through the radio dial looking for some news when I happened across the self-described "voice of Chicago" and heard this creepy-happy indoctrination anthem, which went something like this:

Everybody loves the Cubs! Everybody loves the Cubs! It’s baseball time again, here on WGN...

I don't know how to break this to you, "voice of Chicago," but not everybody loves the Cubs. How about the "voice of Wrigleyville" as perhaps a more accurate descriptor of the world that fits your world view.

The Shrinking Circle of Cubune Incest

These interesting comments appeared in a March 29 column by Rahula Strohl, a writer for the Tribune-owned chicagosports.com:

"Our numbers show that more people click on the Cubs headlines than on the White Sox headlines or Bulls headlines. I also know that among the Sox fans who do visit our site, they tend to have a little more faith in their club than Cubs fans do. After all, I believe it is the White Sox who won the World Series last year."

Strohl goes on to say that the Cubs will suck again this year and Cubs fans are wasting their time being Cubs fans. It's not difficult to imagine that the newspaper as a whole recently reached the same conclusion, that it's wasting its time with the Cubs.

Why do more Tribune readers click on Cubs' headlines? Because many Sox fans boycott the Cubune Empire and all its tributaries, viewing the whole conglomerate as a massive Cubs newsletter. When some piece of jaundiced Cubune journalism does cross our radar, it's often obvious that it was written by a Cubs fan for Cubs fans. Of the seven chicagosports.com writers who maintain blogs, six declare their preference for the Cubs, including Strohl and alleged editor George Knue. The seventh says he prefers neither team. That's like having an all-white staff and one Eskimo in a city that's half black.

If the writers for chicagosports.com are a representative sample, nearly everyone writing for Tribune Sports prefers the Cubs. We already know the wags at WGN are Cubs fans, because they babble chipperly about the Cubs on the radio all the time.

So what is a media empire with a shrinking stock price to do when it realizes it has wasted its time investing in the Cubs? There's only one thing to do. Jump on the Sox bandwagon.

WGN Wears its Bias on its Sleeve

The homepage of WGN Radio features five references to the Chicago Cubs and no references to the World Series champion Chicago White Sox. Its link to sports scores is an image of the Tribune-owned Wrigley Field scoreboard. In its defense, sort of, the Tribune-owned WGN is the radio home of the Tribune-owned Cubs, but WGN is also a leading news station in Chicago and it bills itself as "the Voice of Chicago." Clearly, it's only the voice of half of Chicago.

Last summer we broached this state of affairs with Dave Eanet, WGN's sports director. To his credit, Eanet said WGN tries to be balanced in its reporting and he apologized for those occasions when it drops the ball (apologize is something we've never seen any other Tribune employee do). But seven months later, WGN's web page still reflects a Cubs-only Chicago. Here's what Eanet had to say about that last September:

"We ARE partners with the Cubs, just as WMVP is a partner of the Sox (as WSCR will be next year) and WBBM is a partner of the Bears. We promote our broadcasts of Cubs baseball... and the website -- which is not under the direction of our department --is used to promote all WGN programming."

In fact, WMVP, also known as ESPN 1000, includes the logo of every Chicago team on its homepage, including both the Sox and the Cubs, as they did last year when they carried White Sox broadcasts. Likewise, WSCR, also known as The Score, gives equal billing to each team across the top of its homepage, even though it's the station that carries Sox games this year. These sports stations actually achieve balance and fairness, but WGN, a news station, does not. Since WGN presents itself as a source of journalism, since it claims to be "the Voice of Chicago," it certainly has a greater injunction to be balanced and fair than the sports stations. But any visitor to the WGN homepage would get the impression that there is no Chicago but Wrigleyville, the impression of a Chicago with no World Series champion Chicago White Sox, which is, I'm sure, just the way the Tribune would like Chicago to be. After all, you can't be a monopoly until you erase the competition.