The Sun-Times goes blank for the cause

Local paper sell subscriptions – by using the public TV model  The Sun-Times have found a new way to sell newspapers – going the pledge route. Taking a page from public television, the Chicago Sun-Times Monday published a front page with a blank canvas. The decision to do so illustrated the need for readers to support the long-term survival of […]

Sun-Times, Tribune to merge?

Owners of Chicago Tribune considering bid to buy cash-strapped newspaper. It looks like the feared notion of Chicago becoming an one-paper town is about to come to fruition. On Monday, it was revealed Chicago Tribune owner tronc is pursuing a deal to buy Wrapports, the owners of the Chicago Sun-Times for an undisclosed amount. Should no buyers come forward by […]

T Dog’s Six Pack: Dewey defeats Dallas

It’s like saying Power 92 is #1 in the Streets! Yep, it’s been a week of mistakes for some – ask the Miami Herald and the Toronto Star who declared some teams champions last week when they weren’t, and for anyone who went into Downtown Vancouver Wednesday evening. It’s not just some bizarre universe where Dewey defeated Truman for President […]

Paige Wiser out at the Sun-Times

In a move which leaves neither big-time Chicago newspaper without a television critic, The Chicago Sun-Times fired Paige Wiser after a little over two years on the job after submitting several inaccuracies in a Glee Live! concert review, an offshoot of the popular Fox series. Wiser had been with the paper for the last seventeen years, mostly as an entertainment […]

T Dog’s Six Pack: Oprah, Master Shake, and you

 Aqua Fraud?   In this edition of the Six Pack: The biggest Oprah Winfrey diss ever, Chicago’s news media possibly aiding and embedding a cover-up by city officials, and a sequel of a series that turned out not to be a sequel after all: Winners WFTV and Bob Jordan. WFTV news director Bob Jordan (no relation to WGN-TV’s Robert Jordan) […]

Sun-Times Chairman Jim Tyree dies (updated)

Photo courtesy of Chicago Sun-Times (Editor’s note: This story was updated on March 19, 2011 due to new information.) Chicago Sun-Times Chairman James C. Tyree, (known as Jim Tyree) passed away Wednesday night at the age of 53.  On Friday, the Cook County medical examiner’s office ruled his death an accident from an air embolism after a dialysis catheter removal. […]

T Dog’s Think Tank: The dinosaurs roar tonight

Your symbol of the Chicago Tribune. We do newspapers right!  Want fries with that? The only similarities between John Kass and yours truly is we are native South Siders and White Sox fans. That’s where it stops, believe me. Once again, a Big Media cronie proves how much he or she is out of touch with the realities of today’s […]

Tribune suspends Lee Abrams

Tribune Co. announced the supension of Chief Innoviation Officer Lee Abrams today after he e-mailed a rather racy memo to employees of the company on Monday. The suspension is indefinate, and further disciplinary action may take place, including termination. The story – ironically enough – broke Tuesday on Chicago Tribune’s website by Phil Rosenthal.  The move comes at a time […]

The idiots we can’t seem to ignore

The New York Times today made national what was reported in Chicago media circles for months regarding the frat house antics at Tribune Tower. David Carr had a front-page story in the newspaper regarding the dysfunctional nature that has become the Tribune Co., since Sam Zell bought the company in an ill-fated $8.2 million buyout  in 2007 with Tribune Chump […]

T Dog’s Grab Bag

Glee is off to a hot start – 5.5 adults 18-49 rating for its second season premiere. – The new fall season is underway, and here’s the storylines so far… Dancing With The Stars and Glee are in peak form; Hawaii Five-O had a successful debut; Mike & Molly was amply sampled; and all of Fox’s new shows (Lonestar, Raising […]

T Dog’s Four Pack: The Stanley Cup Edition

What a ride it was. The 2010 Stanley Cup Final goes down as one Chicago fans will never forget as the Blackhawks win their first championship since 1961.  Here are the winners – and losers – of the Stanley Cup Final, noting the biggest winner of them all are of course, the Chicago Blackhawks. WinnersPatrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. They […]

T Dog’s Think Tank: The Court Jester

Last week, A memo Tribune CEO Randy Michaels sent through WGN-AM News Director Charlie Meyerson, had a list of 119 words and phrases his employees at WGN should not say on the air in order to “improve the product”. And if they say any of these “forbidden” words, other employees can “rat them out” by noting the precise date and […]

Chicago Sun-Times has new owner

The Chicago Sun-Times has a new lease on life, and you can thank Jim Tyree for it. The paper was sold for just the fourth time in its 60-year history to Tyree and his group of investors, in a deal worth $5 million, while assuming $21 million in liabilities. In order to make the deal work for Tyree (and the […]

T Dog’s Think Tank: The joke’s on us

In a recent column in the Chicago Tribune, Steve Dahl wondered what the country – and the world – thought of Illinois thanks to Patti Blagojevich (former Governor Rod’s wife) appearing on I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here! He said it gave Illinois a Hollywood feel, but a Third World one at the same time. Of course, we […]

Sun-Times names Paige Wiser new TV Critic

Longime features columnist Paige Wiser was named the Chicago Sun-Times’ new TV Critic today, and she’ll begin writing on Sunday. The gig was previously held by Doug Elfman, who was dropped amid a flurry of budget cuts last year. The move marks the first time TV scribes at two of Chicago’s biggest newspapers are female – Maureen Ryan was named […]