Robert Feder: “Editor Says a Smaller Chicago Tribune May Take Some Getting Used To”

From a post on robertfeder.com by Robert Feder headlined “A smaller Chicago Tribune  ‘may take some getting used to,’ editor says”:

Weekday print editions of the Chicago Tribune shrank from four sections to three and the newspaper’s stand-alone feature section vanished. Those were among this week’s noticeable cutbacks as the newspaper continues to downsize under the new ownership of hedge fund Alden Global Capital (and adjust to the sudden loss of more than 40 newsroom employees through buyouts).

Under Alden, Tribune Publishing newspapers were ordered to cut local and feature pages by 20 percent, move up editorial deadlines and halt most special sections, according to Crain’s Chicago Business. Colin McMahon, editor-in-chief of the Tribune, outlined the newspaper’s reorganization this week in an unsigned letter to readers. (Here is the link.)…

The hemorrhaging of great talent from the Chicago Tribune continues unabated. This week’s departures include columnist Ryan Ori,who covered commercial real estate, and senior content editor Kathleen O’Malley. Ori, who joined the Tribune from Crain’s Chicago Business in 2017, told colleagues in an email: “These past few years have offered the chance to cover the city’s ever-expanding skyline and the unrelenting obstacles to that growth, all for Chicago’s newspaper of record. Strangely, it occasionally has meant covering our own newsroom’s comings and goings.”… O’Malley, who joined the Tribune as a copy editor from the Indianapolis Star in 2012, has been hired by the New York Times.
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More than 160 journalists from around the world gathered on a Zoom call Thursday in a surprise tribute to a beloved professor at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Roger Boye was saluted on his 50th year of guiding the Medill-Northwestern Journalism Institute, the five-week summer journalism program for incoming high school seniors, also known as the Cherub program. Medill Dean Charles Whitaker joined alumni, faculty, staff and generations of former Cherubs in praising Boye for his gracious leadership and remarkable dedication. Former Chicago Tribune critic and onetime Cherub Howard Reich was among many on the call who cited Boye as an inspiration. I too have benefitted countless times from Roger’s kindness and generosity since I was a Cherub in the summer of 1973. P.S. Medill marks its 100th anniversary this year.