Bad news for Chicagoans who value the Fourth Estate: Maurice Possley, a Tribune investigative reporter who helped bring about the state’s death penalty moratorium, is resigning from the paper before it trims roughly 60 newsroom staff positions.
From Crain's:
Mr. Possley’s decision was based on what he referred to as the “stunning . . . dismantling of our newspaper in such a short time,” according to his note.
“I always had envisioned retiring from the Tribune, but events of the past year, including (Editor) Ann Marie (Lipinski’s) resignation, convinced me that now is the time for me to seek my fortune elsewhere,” Mr. Possley wrote.
It's been said before, but the decision by Sam Zell and the Tribune front office to focus on a not-so-snazzy redesign of the paper just isn't a sound use of resources. Steve Rhodes elaborates:
Redesigning newspapers, by the way, as the Trib is now doing, will not garner many new readers no matter how snappy. It's too late for that. The cycle of habit has been broken. The purpose of the print product now ought to be as a supplement to the website. And putting consumer and entertainment news front and center is an awful idea. Strip the paper down to news and news only. You can't compete with stale entertainment news. Then develop new print products, like a sports weekly, a photo weekly, a local Onion . . . it's time for newspapers - and their websites - to disaggregate. Ironic, isn't it?
markg8 on Wed, 07/23/2008 - 09:55
One annoying feature of the new redesign is the ad flap over the frontpage in the Sunday edition. I know they have to make billions to cover the sale but c'mon it's a major city newspaper not the Penny Saver.
Zell ought to find buyers for the Cubs and a whole lot of other papers than just Newsday and then rebuild the Trib. Give us what we can't get from blogs or the Sun Times with investigative reporting and serious reporting from foreign news bureaus. They do that and they'll have an interesting product worth buying. I can get fluff anywhere on the net for free.
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