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Published weekly...or so--usually on Friday.
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Sun-Times Reports Urban Legend
By JOHN F. KUCZAJ
Wednesday was an interesting day for the Sun-Times.
First, the announcement & front page story about their partnership with Donald Trump (see my next item) then they print an internet joke/urban legend thinking it was a humorous-true--news item.
I was quite stunned to see it, but there it was, on page 42 of the Wednesday Sports Final edition -a story from UPI about a Navy ship's encounter with a lighthouse. I first heard this joke 3-4 years ago...you know what happens...a friend finally gets e-mail and thinks they are performing a useful service every day by sending everyone they know a bunch of jokes they found on the internet. The lighthouse joke was funny the first 10 times I heard it but I never expected to see it printed in a newspaper as fact!
Now, it's possible that someone in the Navy was screwing with a reporter from the Unification-church-owned UPI, and that UPI didn't realize it was nothing but an urban legend.
That's no excuse for the Sun-Times to rip the story and print it in the "World News" section.
Especially since they have their own urban legend expert on staff - Richard Roeper! How embarrassing is it that Richard plugs his new urban legend book at the bottom of his column on page 11 while his own paper unwittingly reports an urban legend as fact on page 42?
For more info on the old lighthouse joke, check out: the Urban Legends Reference Pages or better yet, the US Navy Web Site .
Sun-Times to Exploit #1 Asset
By JOHN F. KUCZAJ
So the Sun-Times and Donald Trump are going to try to build a skyscraper on the current site of the newspaper?
Despite the fact that the Sun-Times is the 11th largest newspaper in the country , it has always seemed to be in financial trouble. Their ace-in-the-hole as been the prime real estate on which the newsroom stands. Now the paper is looking to flip their "Trump card".
Consider the perceptions we have of our two newspapers: The Sun-Times has always had the image as the scrappy little paper-that-could compared to the stuffy, safe, yuppie image that the Tribune evokes. The Sun-Times building looks like a shabby, prefab hut built out of discarded Girder & Panel playsets while the Tribune is housed in-literally-an ivory tower.
While I am encouraged with any move by the Sun-Times to stay afloat, I'm worried that Hollinger will pocket the hefty sum they get in this deal and continue to run the paper on a frayed shoestring. I don't for one minute buy the concept of the Sun-Times newsroom moving to temporary headquarters then moving back to new digs in the luxurious Trump Tower Chicago. I see a move to a modest new location in the downtown area...besides, if the paper was located in the new tower, part of their underdog mystique would be wiped away.
As it is, I am skeptical this thing will happen anyway. Part of my skepticism comes from the fact that outsiders do not realize that this city and its people HATE New York with a passion. We don't embrace sports stars that come to Chicago from New York, we reject New York ideas and customs, and we quickly dismiss New Yorkers who come to town and try to do things in a New York way.
As a city, we are elated that we are NOT New York. In fact, I'm surprised the original name of the city wasn't "Not York".
Trump thinks he can duplicate the opulence of his Trump Tower in Chicago, but I think he's in for a rude awakening if he thinks Chicago will accept a New Yorker jamming a New York building down our throats. Chicagoans are not impressed with "The Donald". If Trump can check his ego at O'Hare and allow some Chicagoans to guide his project, he'll have no problem.
Yeah, that'll happen!
Channel 2 Reporter Unaware of Fox Network
By JOHN F. KUCZAJ
It was Monday or Tuesday on Channel 2's 10pm newscast, I believe. Jay Levine was doing a live update of the missing girls story when he mentioned that the police received a bunch of tips thanks to a syndicated program that aired that weekend on another station.
Memo to Jay:
"America's Most Wanted" has been on the air since 1988 on the Fox Network. Since it is a Fox network program, produced by Fox Television, it is therefore not considered syndicated--like "Hollywood Squares" which Channel 2 runs in place of the 6:00 newscast.
Oh, and a quick check of the ratings shows that while 220,000 people in Chicago watch Channel 2's 10pm newscast, 290,000 people watch America's Most Wanted
on Fox...
...Channel 32...
...WFLD...
...That station Walter Jacobson works at now...
Am I ringing any bells, Jay?
Channel 7 and Channel 9 had no problem mentioning the show name and network in their stories.
To be fair to Jay, maybe someone with authority told him not to mention that there was another network in town--just in case more Channel 2 viewers were waiting for word of other stations before they stopped watching the Channel 2 news.
In an unrelated matter - what are the odds that Channel 2 hires their new Sports Director from a station in Kansas City? My gambling friend, Alfonse "No Taint" Henderson gives it 2-to-1.
Take a look at the previous issue: Sunday, July 15
Take a look at the previous issue: Friday, July 06
* Pseudonym
Published weekly...or so--usually on Friday.
If you'd like to contribute, e-mail your article to the editor
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