Editing Chicago Tribune (section)

====1948 U.S. presidential election====
{{Main|Dewey Defeats Truman}}
[[File:Dewey Defeats Truman.jpg|thumb|alt=Man in gray suit and wire glasses holding newspaper that says "[[Dewey Defeats Truman]]"|[[Harry S. Truman|Truman]] was widely expected to lose the 1948 election, and the ''Chicago Tribune'' ran the incorrect headline, "[[Dewey Defeats Truman]]" in its early edition the day after the election.]]
The paper is well known for a mistake it made during the [[U.S. presidential election, 1948|1948 presidential election]]. At that time, much of its composing room staff was on strike. The early returns led editors to believe (along with many in the country) that the Republican candidate [[Thomas Dewey]] would win. An early edition of the next day's paper carried the headline "[[Dewey Defeats Truman]]", turning the paper into a collector's item. Democrat [[Harry S. Truman]] won and proudly brandished the newspaper in a famous picture taken at [[St. Louis Union Station]]. Beneath the headline was a [[Fake news|false article]], written by Arthur Sears Henning, which purported to describe West Coast results although written before East Coast election returns were available.

In 1969, under the leadership of publisher [[Harold Grumhaus]] and editor [[Clayton Kirkpatrick]], the ''Tribune'' began reporting from a wider viewpoint. The paper retained its Republican and conservative perspective in its editorials, but it began to publish perspectives in wider commentary that represented a spectrum of diverse opinions, while its news reporting no longer had the conservative slant it had in the McCormick years.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

On May 1, 1974, in a major feat of journalism, the ''Tribune'' published the complete 246,000-word text of the [[Watergate tapes]], in a 44-page supplement that hit the streets 24&nbsp;hours after the transcripts' release by the [[Richard Nixon|Nixon]] [[White House]]. Not only was the ''Tribune'' the first newspaper to publish the transcripts, but it beat the U.S. [[United States Government Publishing Office|Government Printing Office]]'s published version, and made headlines doing so.{{clarify|date=June 2014}}

A week later, after studying the transcripts, the paper's editorial board observed that "the high dedication to grand principles that Americans have a right to expect from a President is missing from the transcript record." The ''Tribune''{{'}}s editors concluded that "nobody of sound mind can read <nowiki>[the transcripts]</nowiki> and continue to think that Mr. Nixon has upheld the standards and dignity of the Presidency," and called for Nixon's resignation. The ''Tribune'' call for Nixon to resign made news, reflecting not only the change in the type of conservatism practiced by the paper, but as a watershed event in terms of Nixon's hopes for survival in office. The White House reportedly perceived the ''Tribune''{{'}}s editorial as a loss of a longtime supporter and as a blow to Nixon's hopes to weather the scandal.

On December 7, 1975, Kirkpatrick announced in a column on the editorial page that [[Rick Soll]], a "young and talented columnist" for the paper, whose work had "won a following among many ''Tribune'' readers over the last two years", had resigned from the paper. He had acknowledged that one column he wrote, dating to November 23, 1975, contained verbatim passages written by another columnist in 1967 and later published in a collection. Kirkpatrick did not identify the columnist. The passages in question, Kirkpatrick wrote, were from a notebook where Soll regularly entered words, phrases and bits of conversation which he had wished to remember. The paper initially suspended Soll for a month without pay. Kirkpatrick wrote that further evidence was revealed came out that another of Soll's columns contained information which he knew was false. At that point, ''Tribune'' editors decided to accept the resignation offered by Soll when the internal investigation began.<ref>{{cite news|first=Clayton|last=Kirkpatrick|title=Reporting the news|work=Chicago Tribune|page=4|date=December 7, 1975}}</ref>

After leaving, Soll married [[Pam Zekman]], a Chicago newspaper (and future TV) reporter. {{anchor|Chicago Times (magazine)}}He worked for the short-lived<ref>{{cite news |title=Chicago Times sold to former publisher |first1=James |last1=Warren |date=May 9, 1989 |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1989-05-09-8904110151-story.html |access-date=January 31, 2023 |work=Chicago Tribune |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230131191411/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1989-05-09-8904110151-story.html |archive-date=January 31, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title="Chicago Times" magazine |url=https://chicagohistorytoday.wordpress.com/2015/01/14/chicago-times-magazine/ |website=Chicago History Today |access-date=January 31, 2023 |language=en |date=January 14, 2015}}</ref> ''Chicago Times'' magazine,<ref name="google/books=g1C5vwEACAAJ">{{cite book |title=Chicago Times Magazine |date=1989 |publisher=Chicago Times |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g1C5vwEACAAJ |language=en}}</ref> by Small Newspaper Group Inc. of [[Kankakee, Illinois]],<ref>{{cite news |title=EXECUTIVE DISPUTE AT CHICAGO TIMES |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1989-02-04-8903020795-story.html |access-date=January 31, 2023 |work=Chicago Tribune |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230131191421/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1989-02-04-8903020795-story.html |archive-date=January 31, 2023}}</ref> in the late 1980s.
Soll was born in 1946, in Chicago, to Marjorie and Jules Soll. Soll graduated from [[New Trier High School]], received a Bachelor of Arts in 1968 from [[Colgate University]], and a master's degree from [[Medill School of Journalism]], [[Northwestern University]] in 1970.<ref name="legacy.suntimes/21263473">{{cite news |title=Rick Soll Obituary (1946 - 2016) - Chicago, IL |url=https://legacy.suntimes.com/us/obituaries/chicagosuntimes/name/rick-soll-obituary?id=21263473 |access-date=January 31, 2023 |work=Chicago Sun-Times |publisher=Legacy.com}}</ref><ref name="chicago.suntimes/18395757">{{cite news |title=Reporter, writer, editor Rick Soll dead at 69 |url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/2016/4/29/18395757/reporter-writer-editor-rick-soll-dead-at-69 |access-date=January 31, 2023 |work=Chicago Sun-Times |date=April 29, 2016 |language=en}}</ref>

In January 1977, ''Tribune'' columnist Will Leonard died at age 64.<ref>{{cite news|title=Will Leonard, our man 'On Town,' dies|work=Chicago Tribune|page=B7|date=January 7, 1977}}</ref> In March 1978, the ''Tribune'' announced that it hired columnist [[Bob Greene]] from the ''Chicago Sun-Times''.<ref name=CM/>

Kirkpatrick stepped down as editor in 1979 and was succeeded by [[Maxwell McCrohon]], who served as editor until 1981. He was transitioned to a corporate position. McCrohon held the corporate position until 1983, when he left to become editor-in-chief of the [[United Press International]]. [[James Squires (editor)|James Squires]] served as the paper's editor from July 1981 until December 1989.

[[Jack Fuller]] served as the ''Tribune''{{'}}s editor from 1989 until 1993, when he became the president and chief executive officer of the ''Chicago Tribune''. [[Howard Tyner]] served as the ''Tribune''{{'}}s editor from 1993 until 2001, when he was promoted to vice president/editorial for Tribune Publishing.

The ''Tribune'' won 11 Pulitzer prizes during the 1980s and 1990s.<ref name="chicagotribune.com"/> Editorial cartoonist [[Dick Locher]] won the award in 1983, and editorial cartoonist [[Jeff MacNelly]] won one in 1985. Then, future editor [[Jack Fuller (author)|Jack Fuller]] won a Pulitzer for editorial writing in 1986. In 1987, reporters Jeff Lyon and Peter Gorner won a Pulitzer for explanatory reporting, and in 1988, [[Dean Baquet]], William Gaines and [[Ann Marie Lipinski]] won a Pulitzer for investigative reporting. In 1989, [[Lois Wille]] won a Pulitzer for editorial writing and [[Clarence Page]] snagged the award for commentary. In 1994, [[Ron Kotulak]] won a Pulitzer for explanatory journalism, while [[R. Bruce Dold]] won it for editorial writing. In 1998, reporter [[Paul Salopek]] won a Pulitzer for explanatory writing, and in 1999, architecture critic [[Blair Kamin]] won it for criticism.<ref name="chicagotribune.com"/>

In September 1981, baseball writer [[Jerome Holtzman]] was hired by the ''Tribune'' after a 38-year career at the [[Chicago Sun-Times|''Sun-Times'']].

In September 1982, the ''Chicago Tribune'' opened a new $180 million printing facility, [[Freedom Center (Chicago)|Freedom Center]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 16, 1981 |title=Freedom Center Name |pages=18 |work=Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99153389/freedom-center-name/ |access-date=May 8, 2022}}</ref>

In November 1982, ''Tribune'' managing editor William H. "Bill" Jones, who had won a Pulitzer Prize in 1971, died at age 43 of cardiac arrest as a result of complications from a long battle with [[leukemia]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Tribune's managing editor Jones|work=Chicago Tribune|page=16|date=November 24, 1982}}</ref>

In May 1983, ''Tribune'' columnist Aaron Gold died at age 45 of complications from [[leukemia]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Aaron Gold, Tribune columnist for 10 years|work=Chicago Tribune|page=16|date=May 24, 1983}}</ref> Gold had coauthored the Tribune's "Inc." column with [[Michael Sneed]] and prior to that had written the paper's "Tower Ticker" column.

The ''Tribune'' scored a coup in 1984 when it hired popular columnist [[Mike Royko]] away from the rival ''[[Chicago Sun-Times|Sun-Times]]''.<ref>{{cite news|first=Jerry|last=Crimmins|author2=[[Rick Kogan]] |title=Mike Royko 1932–1997 – Newspaper legend Mike Royko dies – Pulitzer prize-winning columnist was the voice of Chicago for more than 30 years|work=Chicago Tribune|page=1|date=April 30, 1997}}</ref>

In 1986, the ''Tribune'' announced that film critic [[Gene Siskel]], the ''Tribune''{{'}}s best-known writer, was no longer the paper's film critic, and that his position with the paper had shifted from being that of a full-time film critic to that of a freelance contract writer who was to write about the film industry for the Sunday paper and also provide capsule film reviews for the paper's entertainment sections.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://newspapers.com/clip/54669243/gene-siskel-movie-reviewmona-lisa/|title=Complex 'Mona Lisa' spellbinding|work=Chicago Tribune|date=July 2, 1986|first=Gene|last=Siskel|accessdate=July 1, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

The demotion occurred after Siskel and longtime Chicago film critic colleague [[Roger Ebert]] decided to shift the production of their weekly movie review show, then known as ''[[At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert]]'' and later known as ''[[Siskel & Ebert & The Movies]]'' from [[Tribune Entertainment]] to [[The Walt Disney Company]]'s [[Disney–ABC Domestic Television|Buena Vista Television]] unit. "He has done a great job for us," editor James Squires said at the time. "It's a question of how much a person can do physically. We think you need to be a newspaper person first, and Gene Siskel has always tried to do that. But there comes a point when a career is so big that you can't do that." Siskel declined to comment on the new arrangement, but Ebert publicly criticized Siskel's ''Tribune'' bosses for punishing Siskel for taking their television program to a company other than Tribune Entertainment.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1243&dat=19860422&id=AmIPAAAAIBAJ&pg=5742,2075741 |title=Film critic comes to defense of rival Siskel |publisher=The Bulletin |date=April 22, 1986 |access-date=November 7, 2010}}{{Dead link|date=January 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Siskel remained in that freelance position until he died in 1999. He was replaced as film critic by [[Dave Kehr]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Michael Miner |url=https://securesite.chireader.com/cgi-bin/Archive/abridged2.bat?path=1993/930521/HOTTYPE&search=Siskel%20and%20Squires |title=Reader Archive-Extract: 1993/930521/HOTTYPE |publisher=Securesite.chireader.com |date=May 21, 1993 |access-date=September 26, 2009 }}{{Dead link|date=June 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In February 1988, Tribune foreign correspondent Jonathan Broder resigned after publishing his article from February 22 that contained a number of sentences and phrases taken, without attribution, from a column written by another writer, Joel Greenberg, that had been published 10 days earlier in ''[[The Jerusalem Post]]''.<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-chicago-tribune-editor-0218-biz-20160217-story.html|title=Chicago Tribune names Bruce Dold as new editor; Gerould Kern to retire|first=Robert|last=Channick|website=Chicagotribune.com|date=February 18, 2016 |access-date=October 15, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/broder-against-broderfor-the-editor-who-dares-to-be-different/Content?oid=871884|title=Broder Against Broder/For the Editor Who Dares to Be Different|first=Michael|last=Miner|website=Chicagoreader.com|date=March 10, 1988|access-date=October 15, 2017}}</ref>

In August 1988, ''Chicago Tribune'' reporter Michael Coakley died at age 41 of complications from [[AIDS]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1988-08-04-8801200369-story.html|title=Tribune Reporter Michael Coakley, 41 |publisher=Chicago Tribune|date=August 4, 1988 |access-date=April 7, 2015}}</ref>

In November 1992, ''Tribune'' associate subject editor Searle "Ed" Hawley was arrested by Chicago police and charged with seven counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse for allegedly having sex with three juveniles in his home in [[Evanston, Illinois]].<ref>{{cite news|first=Robert|last=Blau|title=Trib newsman charged in sex case|work=Chicago Tribune|page=6|date=November 20, 1992}}</ref> Hawley formally resigned from the paper in early 1993, and pleaded guilty in April 1993. He was sentenced to 3&nbsp;years in prison.<ref>{{cite news|title=Former editor pleads guilty in sex-abuse case, gets 3 years|work=Chicago Tribune|page=3|date=April 13, 1993}}</ref>

In October 1993, the ''Tribune'' fired its longtime military affairs writer, retired Marine David Evans, saying publicly that the position was being replaced by a national security writer.<ref>{{cite web|author=Michael Miner|url=https://securesite.chireader.com/cgi-bin/Archive/abridged2.bat?path=1993/931105/HOTTYPE&search=%22David%20Evans%22|title=Reader Archive-Extract: 1993/931105/HOTTYPE|publisher=Securesite.chireader.com|date=November 5, 1993|access-date=September 26, 2009}}{{Dead link|date=June 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In December 1993, the ''Tribune''{{'}}s longtime [[Washington, D.C.]] bureau chief, [[Nicholas Horrock]], was fired after he chose not to attend a meeting that editor [[Howard Tyner]] requested of him in Chicago.<ref>{{cite web|author=Michael Miner|url=https://securesite.chireader.com/cgi-bin/Archive/abridged2.bat?path=1993/931217/HOTTYPE&search=%22Nicholas%20Horrock%22|title=Reader Archive-Extract: 1993/931217/HOTTYPE|publisher=Securesite.chireader.com|date=December 17, 1993|access-date=September 26, 2009}}{{Dead link|date=June 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Horrock, who shortly thereafter left the paper, was replaced by [[James Warren (journalist)|James Warren]], who attracted new attention to the ''Tribune''{{'}}s D.C. bureau through his continued attacks on celebrity broadcast journalists in Washington.

In December 1993, the ''Tribune'' hired [[Margaret Holt]] from the ''[[Sun-Sentinel|South Florida Sun-Sentinel]]'' as its assistant managing editor for sports, making her the first female to head a sports department at any of the nation's 10 largest newspapers.<ref>{{cite web|author=Michael Miner|url=https://securesite.chireader.com/cgi-bin/Archive/abridged2.bat?path=1993/931217/HOTTYPE&search=%22Margaret%20Holt%22|title=Reader Archive-Extract: 1993/931217/HOTTYPE|publisher=Securesite.chireader.com|date=December 17, 1993|access-date=September 26, 2009}}{{Dead link|date=June 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In mid-1995, Holt was replaced as sports editor by Tim Franklin and shifted to a newly created job, customer service editor.<ref>{{cite web|author=Michael Miner|url=https://securesite.chireader.com/cgi-bin/Archive/abridged2.bat?path=1995/950804/HOTTYPE&search=%22Margaret%20Holt%22|title=Reader Archive-Extract: 1995/950804/HOTTYPE|publisher=Securesite.chireader.com|date=August 4, 1995|access-date=September 26, 2009}}{{Dead link|date=June 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In 1994, reporter [[Brenda You]] was fired by the ''Tribune'' after free-lancing for supermarket tabloid newspapers and lending them photographs from the ''Tribune''{{'}}s photo library.<ref name=CM>{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/March-2003/The-Sad-Saga-of-Bob-Greene/index.php?cparticle=6&siarticle=5#artanc|title=The Sad Saga of Bob Greene|author1=Froelke Coburn, Marcia|author2=Rhodes, Steve|work=Chicago magazine|publisher=Chicagomag.com|date=March 2003|access-date=September 26, 2009|archive-date=May 10, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510060905/http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/March-2003/The-Sad-Saga-of-Bob-Greene/index.php?cparticle=6&siarticle=5#artanc|url-status=dead}}</ref> She later worked for the ''[[National Enquirer]]'' and as a producer for ''[[The Jerry Springer Show]]'' before committing suicide in November 2005.<ref>{{cite web|first=Kevin|last=Roderick|date=November 14, 2005|url=http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2005/11/brenda_you.php|title=Brenda You, 38, possible suicide|publisher=LA Observed|access-date=September 26, 2009}}</ref>

In April 1994, the ''Tribune''{{'}}s new television critic, [[Ken Parish Perkins]], wrote an article about then-[[WFLD]] morning news anchor [[Bob Sirott]] in which Perkins quoted Sirott as making a statement that Sirott later denied making. Sirott criticized Perkins on the air, and the ''Tribune'' later printed a correction acknowledging that Sirott had never made that statement.<ref>{{cite web|author=Michael Miner|url=https://securesite.chireader.com/cgi-bin/Archive/abridged2.bat?path=1994/940415/HOTTYPE&search=Perkins|title=Reader Archive-Extract: 1994/940415/HOTTYPE|publisher=Securesite.chireader.com|date=April 15, 1994|access-date=September 26, 2009}}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Eight months later, Perkins stepped down as TV critic, and he left the paper shortly thereafter.<ref>{{cite web|author=Michael Miner|url=https://securesite.chireader.com/cgi-bin/Archive/abridged2.bat?path=1994/941216/HOTTYPE&search=Perkins|title=Reader Archive-Extract: 1994/941216/HOTTYPE|publisher=Securesite.chireader.com|date=December 16, 1994|access-date=September 26, 2009}}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In December 1995, the alternative newsweekly ''[[Newcity]]'' published a first-person article by the pseudonymous Clara Hamon (a name mentioned in the play ''[[The Front Page]]'') but quickly identified by ''Tribune'' reporters as that of former ''Tribune'' reporter Mary Hill that heavily criticized the paper's one-year residency program. The program brought young journalists in and out of the paper for one-year stints, seldom resulting in a full-time job. Hill, who wrote for the paper from 1992 until 1993, acknowledged to the ''Chicago Reader'' that she had written the diatribe originally for the Internet, and that the piece eventually was edited for ''Newcity''.<ref>{{cite web|author=Michael Miner|url=https://securesite.chireader.com/cgi-bin/Archive/abridged2.bat?path=1996/960105/HOTTYPE&search=%22one-year%20residency%22|title=Reader Archive-Extract: 1996/960105/HOTTYPE|publisher=Securesite.chireader.com|date=January 5, 1996|access-date=September 26, 2009}}{{Dead link|date=June 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In 1997, the ''Tribune'' celebrated its 150th anniversary in part by tapping longtime reporter [[Stevenson Swanson]] to edit the book ''Chicago Days: 150 Defining Moments in the Life of a Great City''.

On April 29, 1997, popular columnist [[Mike Royko]] died of a [[brain aneurysm]]. On September 2, 1997, the ''Tribune'' promoted longtime City Hall reporter [[John Kass]] to take Royko's place as the paper's principal Page Two news columnist.<ref>{{cite news|first=Howard|last=Tyner|title=Introducing a new column by John Kass|work=Chicago Tribune|page=1|date=September 2, 1997}}</ref>

On June 1, 1997, the ''Tribune'' published what ended up becoming a very popular column by [[Mary Schmich]] called "Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young", otherwise known as "[[Wear Sunscreen]]" or the "Sunscreen Speech". The most popular and well-known form of the essay is the successful music single released in 1999, accredited to [[Baz Luhrmann]].

In 1998, reporter Jerry Thomas was fired by the ''Tribune'' after he wrote a cover article on boxing promoter [[Don King (boxing promoter)|Don King]] for ''[[Emerge (magazine)|Emerge]]'' magazine at the same time that he was writing a cover article on King for the ''Chicago Tribune'' Sunday magazine. The paper decided to fire Thomas—and suspend his photographer on the ''Emerge'' story, Pulitzer Prize-winning ''Tribune'' photographer [[Ovie Carter]] for a month—because Thomas did not tell the ''Tribune'' about his outside work and also because the ''Emerge'' story wound up appearing in print first.<ref>{{cite web|author=Michael Miner|url=https://securesite.chireader.com/cgi-bin/Archive/abridged2.bat?path=1998/980703/HOTTYPE&search=Ovie|title=Reader Archive-Extract: 1998/980703/HOTTYPE|publisher=Securesite.chireader.com|access-date=September 26, 2009}}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

On June 6, 1999, the ''Tribune'' published a first-person travel article from freelance writer Gaby Plattner that described a supposed incident in which a pilot for [[Air Zimbabwe]] who was flying without a copilot inadvertently locked himself out of his cockpit while the plane was flying on [[autopilot]] and as a result needed to use a large ax to chop a hole in the cockpit door.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-06-06-9906130030-story.html |title=Choppy Skies |publisher=Chicago Tribune |date=June 6, 1999 |access-date=June 19, 2020}}</ref> An airline representative wrote a lengthy letter to the paper calling the account "totally untrue, unprofessional and damaging to our airline" and explaining that Air Zimbabwe does not keep axes on its aircraft and never flies without a full crew,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-07-18-9907180165-story.html |title=No Truth To The Story|publisher=Chicago Tribune |date=July 18, 1999 |access-date=June 19, 2020}}</ref> and the paper was forced to print a correction stating that Plattner "now says that she passed along a story she had heard as something she had experienced."<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

The ''Tribune'' has been a leader on the Internet, acquiring 10 percent of [[AOL|America Online]] in the early 1990s, then launching such web sites as Chicagotribune.com (1995), [[Metromix]].com (1996), '''ChicagoSports.com''' (1999), '''ChicagoBreakingNews.com''' (2008), and [[ChicagoNow]] (2009). In 2002, the paper launched a tabloid edition targeted at 18- to 34-year-olds known as ''[[RedEye]]''.