110-589: WGN may refer to: "World's Greatest Newspaper", former slogan of the Chicago Tribune and the namesake for the WGN broadcasting outlets in Chicago, Illinois. WGN (AM) , a radio station (720 AM) licensed to Chicago, Illinois, United States WGN-TV , a television station (channel 9.1 virtual/19 digital) licensed to Chicago, Illinois, United States WGN America,
220-444: A Delaware bankruptcy court . Oaktree Capital Management , JPMorgan Chase and Angelo, Gordon & Co. , which were the company's senior debt holders, assumed control of Tribune's properties upon the company's exit from bankruptcy on December 31, 2012. Coincident with emergence from bankruptcy, company stock began trading as an over-the-counter security under the symbol TRBAA. In December 2014, over-the-counter trading ended and
330-497: A "broadcast management company" (later named The Other Company). On January 31, 2008, Tribune Company announced it would purchase real estate leased from TMCT, LLC, which included properties used by the Los Angeles Times , Newsday , Baltimore Sun and Hartford Courant . The company received an option to purchase the real estate for $ 175 million through the 2006 restructuring of TMCT, LLC. In addition, Tribune announced
440-644: A 12.5% stake in The WB Television Network in August 1995; the company had ten of its 16 stations affiliated with the network (including five that were signed as charter affiliates through The WB's initial 1993 affiliation deal with Tribune). Tribune invested $ 21 million in The WB in March 1997, which increased its equity interest in the network to 21.9%. In November 1994, Tribune Broadcasting formed
550-605: A 24-hour local cable news channel for the Chicago area. Online editions of Tribune's newspapers were developed starting in 1995, with the Chicago Tribune ' s digital edition launching in 1996. Also in 1996, Tribune (holding a 20% interest) created a joint venture with American Online (which held an 80% interest) called Digital City, Inc. to set up a series of Digital City websites to provide interactive local news and information services. By 1997, Tribune Publishing had only four daily newspapers remaining in its portfolio:
660-502: A Pulitzer Prize in 1971, died at age 43 of cardiac arrest as a result of complications from a long battle with leukemia . In May 1983, Tribune columnist Aaron Gold died at age 45 of complications from leukemia . 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
770-509: 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
880-531: A Pulitzer for explanatory writing, and in 1999, architecture critic Blair Kamin won it for criticism. In September 1981, baseball writer Jerome Holtzman was hired by the Tribune after a 38-year career at the Sun-Times . In September 1982, the Chicago Tribune opened a new $ 180 million printing facility, Freedom Center . In November 1982, Tribune managing editor William H. "Bill" Jones, who had won
990-422: A broadsheet for home delivery, but would publish in tabloid format for newsstand , news box, and commuter station sales. The change, however, proved unpopular with readers; in August 2011, the Tribune discontinued the tabloid edition, returning to its established broadsheet format through all distribution channels. The Tribune was owned by parent company Tribune Publishing . In May 2021, Tribune Publishing
1100-448: A closely guarded military secret. The story revealing that Americans broke the enemy naval codes was not cleared by censors, and had U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt so enraged that he considered shutting down the Tribune . The paper is well known for a mistake it made during the 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
1210-740: A company other than Tribune Entertainment. Siskel remained in that freelance position until he died in 1999. He was replaced as film critic by Dave Kehr . In February 1988, Tribune foreign correspondent Jonathan Broder resigned after a February 22, 1988, Tribune article written by Broder 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 . In August 1988, Chicago Tribune reporter Michael Coakley died at age 41 of complications from AIDS . In November 1992, Tribune associate subject editor Searle "Ed" Hawley
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#17327721941611320-521: A full crew, 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." The Tribune has been a leader on the Internet, acquiring 10 percent of 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,
1430-451: 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
1540-507: A hand press. The Tribune constructed its first building, a four-story structure at Dearborn and Madison Streets, in 1869. The building was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of October 1871, along with most of the city. The Tribune resumed printing two days later with an editorial declaring "Chicago Shall Rise Again." Joseph Medill , a native Ohioan who acquired an interest in the Tribune in 1855, gained full control of
1650-399: A high debt load related to the company's privatization and a sharp downturn in newspaper advertising revenue, Tribune filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection . Company plans originally called for it to emerge from bankruptcy by May 31, 2010, but the company would end up in protracted bankruptcy proceedings for another four years. With the company's overall debt totaling $ 13 billion, it was
1760-456: A joint venture with Knight-Ridder, CareerBuilder , that same year. After the 2001 September 11 attacks , the media sector suffered a greater decrease in advertising revenue. This forced a 10% reduction in staff companywide and a $ 151.9 million restructuring charge. In 2002 and 2003, Tribune Broadcasting bought four additional television stations, increasing its total television holdings to 26 stations, some of which were acquired via trades of
1870-492: 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. After leaving, Soll married Pam Zekman , a Chicago newspaper (and future TV) reporter. He worked for the short-lived Chicago Times magazine, by Small Newspaper Group Inc. of Kankakee, Illinois , in
1980-805: A partnership with several minority partners, including Quincy Jones , to form Qwest Broadcasting. Qwest operated as a separate company from Tribune (which owned stations in a few markets where Tribune had already owned stations, including WATL in Atlanta, which was operated alongside Tribune-owned WGNX ); Tribune entered into a new business sector when it formed Tribune Education in 1993. The sector grew and provided high profit margins. Through 1996, Tribune used $ 400 million to purchase several publishers of education material: Contemporary Books , Inc., The Wright Group, Everyday Learning Corporation, Jamestown Publishers, Inc., Educational Publishing Corporation, NTC Publishing Group and Janson Publications. In 1996, this group
2090-420: A subsidiary, McCormick-Patterson. The company entered broadcasting in 1924 by leasing WDAP, one of Chicago's first radio stations. Tribune later changed the station's call letters to WGN , reflecting the Tribune ' s nickname, "World's Greatest Newspaper." WGN was purchased by the company in 1926 and went on to become prominent in the radio industry. In 1925, the company completed its new headquarters,
2200-491: 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. 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
2310-465: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Chicago Tribune The Chicago Tribune is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago , Illinois . Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN radio and WGN television received their call letters. As of 2023, it
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#17327721941612420-636: Is the most-read daily newspaper in the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and the ninth-largest newspaper by print circulation in the United States. In the 1850s, under Joseph Medill , the Chicago Tribune became closely associated with the Illinois politician Abraham Lincoln , and the then new Republican Party 's progressive wing. In the 20th century, under Medill's grandson 'Colonel' Robert R. McCormick , its reputation
2530-579: The New York Daily News . In a renewed circulation war with Hearst's Herald-Examiner , McCormick and Hearst ran rival lotteries in 1922. The Tribune won the battle, adding 250,000 readers to its ranks. The same year, the Chicago Tribune hosted an international design competition for its new headquarters, the Tribune Tower . The competition worked brilliantly as a publicity stunt, and more than 260 entries were received. The winner
2640-579: The Chicago Sun-Times . Kirkpatrick stepped down as editor in 1979 and was succeeded by Maxwell McCrohon (1928–2004), 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 served as the paper's editor from July 1981 until December 1989. Jack Fuller served as
2750-584: The Chicago Tribune ' s RedEye edition in 2003, followed by an investment in AM New York . That same year, Tribune pushed for the FCC to loosen its regulations barring cross-ownership of newspapers and broadcast outlets (television and/or radio) in a single market. Tribune would have to sell either a newspaper or television station in Los Angeles, New York City and Hartford while its combination of
2860-582: 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. On June 6, 1999, the Tribune published a first-person travel article from freelance writer Gaby Plattner that described
2970-742: The Chicago Tribune , the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel , the Orlando Sentinel and the Daily Press . Tribune also set up its Tribune Ventures division to acquire stakes in newer media businesses. During the middle of that year, Tribune Ventures purchased interests in companies such as AOL (owning 4%), electronic payment specialist CheckFree Corporation (owning 5%), search engine company Excite , Inc. (owning 7%), Mercury Mail, Inc. (owning 13%), Open Market , Inc. (owning 6%), and Peapod LP (owning 13%). Also that year,
3080-570: The Great Chicago Fire of 1871. In the 20th-century, Colonel Robert R. McCormick , who took control in the 1920s, the paper was strongly isolationist and aligned with the Old Right in its coverage of political news and social trends. It used the motto "The American Paper for Americans". From the 1930s to the 1950s, it excoriated the Democrats and the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt ,
3190-695: The Meredith Corporation in exchange for KCPQ-TV in Seattle in March 1999. Later that year, the station purchased WEWB in Albany, New York and WBDC in Washington, D.C. Tribune Interactive, Inc. was incorporated to handle all the various websites for its publishing, television and radio, and newspaper properties. During the 1999 fiscal year, Tribune racked up $ 1.47 billion in profits on total revenues of $ 2.92 billion, in part from gains made on
3300-666: The New York Daily News saw multiple employee strikes. In 1980, the Daily News added an afternoon edition to go head-to-head with the New York Post ; this expansion failed, with the newspaper reverting to once-daily editions with the end of the afternoon edition in 1981. Also that year, the Independent Network News , an evening newscast intended for independent stations, was launched as
3410-720: The Orlando Sentinel and Time Warner Cable joined together to create the Orlando-based local cable news channel, Central Florida News 13 . Tribune also purchased a 31% stake in the Food Network . The company began the 1990s with six television stations, but changes to federal radio and television ownership regulations allowed Tribune to expand its television station holdings over the next decade. Tribune Broadcasting purchased ten additional stations by 1997, six of them acquired through that year's purchase of Renaissance Broadcasting for $ 1.1 billion in cash. Tribune purchased
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3520-676: The Sun-Sentinel and WBZL-TV in Miami / Fort Lauderdale, Florida was given a temporary waiver. The FCC granted waivers for the other newspaper-television combinations in June 2003. In 2006, Tribune acquired the minority equity interest in AM New York , giving it full ownership of the newspaper. The company sold both Newsday and AM New York to Cablevision Systems Corporation in 2008. Tribune's partnership in The WB ended in 2006, when
3630-505: 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. Editorial cartoonist Dick Locher won the award in 1983, and editorial cartoonist Jeff MacNelly won one in 1985. Then, future editor Jack Fuller won
3740-568: The Tribune ' s photo library. She later worked for the National Enquirer and as a producer for The Jerry Springer Show before committing suicide in November 2005. 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
3850-575: The Tribune hired Margaret Holt from the 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. In mid-1995, Holt was replaced as sports editor by Tim Franklin and shifted to a newly created job, customer service editor. In 1994, reporter Brenda You was fired by the Tribune after free-lancing for supermarket tabloid newspapers and lending them photographs from
3960-519: The Tribune Tower . That same year, the company decided to fund the future Joseph Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University . Liberty magazine eventually exceeded Collier's circulation, but lacked sufficient advertising and was sold in 1931. The Tribune's European edition was also cut. However, Tribune launched the Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate content syndication service in 1933. With
4070-489: The "most viewed" category on the South Florida Sun-Sentinel ' s website. Google News index's next pass found the link as new news. Income Security Advisors found the Google result to be new news, which was passed along to Bloomberg News where it became a headline (Tribune, which owns both papers, noted that one click on a story in non-peak hours could flag an article as "most viewed" ). On December 8, 2008, faced with
4180-432: The 1960s, its corporate parent owner, Tribune Company began expanding into new markets buying additional daily papers. For the first time in its over-a-century-and-a-half history, in 2008, its editorial page endorsed a Democrat, Barack Obama , a U.S. Senator from Illinois, for U.S. president. Originally published solely as a broadsheet , the Tribune announced on January 13, 2009, that it would continue publishing as
4290-472: The Canadian science ship CSS Acadia . The Tribune ' s reputation for innovation extended to radio; it bought an early station, WDAP, in 1924 and renamed it WGN , the station call letters standing for the paper's self-description as the "World's Greatest Newspaper". WGN Television was launched on April 5, 1948. These broadcast stations remained Tribune properties for nine decades and were among
4400-535: The FCC's 39% market share cap), which had been removed by Tom Wheeler during the final months of the Obama administration . The stocks of both companies rose in value in the wake of these rumors. As was expected, the FCC reinstated the UHF discount; under adjusted calculations, the two companies only had a combined market share of 42%, meaning that the combined company would be required to divest stations in order to stay below
4510-665: The International Meteor Organization WorldGaming Network Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title WGN . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=WGN&oldid=1114170618 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Broadcast call sign disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
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4620-657: The McCormick years. 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 hours after the transcripts' release by the Nixon White House . Not only was the Tribune the first newspaper to publish the transcripts, but it beat the U.S. Government Printing Office 's published version, and made headlines doing so. A week later, after studying
4730-710: The Sentinel-Star Company, owners of the Orlando Sentinel , in 1965. Also in 1963, the company purchased part of the defunct New York Mirror . The company increased its broadcast holdings with the acquisition of radio station WQCD-FM in New York City in 1964 and independent television station KWGN-TV in Denver in 1965. In 1967, the company began printing a tabloid serving suburban areas of Chicago, The Suburban Trib . The corporation
4840-466: The Tribune Company and McClatchy. The company stopped publishing the tabloid Chicago Today in 1974; the Tribune also began publishing all-day editions. An approval of changes to the Tribune bylaws in 1974 triggered a lawsuit by shareholders who saw this as a move towards taking the company public. The lawsuit by Josephine Albright – Joseph Patterson's daughter – and her son, Joseph Albright,
4950-461: The United States and operating three additional stations through local marketing agreements . It owned national basic cable channel/ superstation WGN America , regional cable news channel Chicagoland Television (CLTV) and Chicago radio station WGN . Investment interests include the Food Network , in which the company had a 31% share. Prior to the August 2014 spin-off of the company's publishing division into Tribune Publishing , Tribune Media
5060-500: The air, and the Tribune later printed a correction acknowledging that Sirott had never made that statement. Eight months later, Perkins stepped down as TV critic, and he left the paper shortly thereafter. 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
5170-521: 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. 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
5280-403: The cable network from a superstation in 2014. In 2016, Tribune Media sold off real estate properties to net $ 409 million while authorizing $ 400 million in share repurchasing. In December 2016, Tribune Media sold Gracenote to Nielsen Holdings for $ 560 million; Tribune planned to use the sale to pay down a debt of $ 3.5 billion. Cash on hand was expected to pay out $ 500 million in dividends in
5390-444: The cap. However, there was only an 11% market overlap between Tribune and Sinclair's stations. On April 30, 2017, The Wall Street Journal reported that there were competing bids for Tribune from a partnership between 21st Century Fox and private equity firm Blackstone Group (under which Fox would contribute its existing station group into a joint venture with Blackstone), and Nexstar Media Group . The Fox/Blackstone deal
5500-432: 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 long-time 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
5610-471: The company began sharing stories among 25 subscribers via the newly formed news service , the Knight News Wire. By 1990, this service was known as KRT (Knight-Ridder/Tribune) and provided graphics, photo and news content to its member newspapers. When The McClatchy Company purchased Knight-Ridder Inc. in 2006, KRT became MCT (McClatchy-Tribune Information Services), which was jointly owned by
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#17327721941615720-558: The company's radio stations; this left its one-time radio flagship WGN (AM) in Chicago as the company's sole remaining radio station. Tribune Publishing purchased the monthly lifestyle publication Chicago from Primedia , Inc. in August 2002. Hoy , a Spanish language newspaper owned by the company, expanded with the launch of local editions in Chicago (in September 2003) and Los Angeles (in March 2004). Tribune also launched daily newspapers targeting younger urban commuters, including
5830-543: The company's second newspaper, the New York News in 1919. Tribune's ownership of the New York City tabloid was considered "interlocking" due to an agreement between McCormick and Patterson. The paper launched a European edition during World War I . To compete with the Saturday Evening Post and Collier's in 1924, the Tribune Company launched a weekly national magazine, Liberty , run by
5940-599: The company's second syndicated television program, originating from WPIX . The New York Daily News was put up for sale in 1981, but a proposed deal fell through by 1982. In August of that year, Tribune purchased the Chicago Cubs Major League Baseball team from William Wrigley III . In 1981, all of Tribune's television stations, which were previously under the WGN Continental Broadcasting unit, were placed under
6050-510: The company's stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TRCO. On February 26, 2013, it was reported that Tribune hired investment firms Evercore Partners and J.P. Morgan to oversee the sale of its newspapers. On July 1, 2013, Tribune announced that it would purchase the 19 television stations owned by Local TV, LLC outright for $ 2.75 billion. The FCC approved the acquisition on December 20, and
6160-500: The company's subsidiary Tribune Broadcasting Company . The following year, Tribune formed the Tribune Entertainment Company as a production subsidiary to produce the company's existing syndicated programs including the U.S. Farm Report , as well as newer shows. In 1983, The Suburban Trib was replaced by zone editions of the Chicago Tribune . That October, the Tribune Company became a public firm, with
6270-502: The company's value to shareholders, which include a possible sale of the entire company and/or select assets, or the formation of programming alliances or strategic partnerships with other companies, due to the decrease in its stock price since the Tribune Publishing spin-off and a $ 385 million revenue write-down for the 2015 fiscal year, partly due to original scripted programming expenditures for WGN America since it converted
6380-400: The company, was removed and replaced by an executive council. The New York Times had reported earlier in the month about his "outlandish, often sexual behavior" that he also exercised in his previous job at Clear Channel Communications . On July 13, 2012, the Tribune Company received approval of a reorganization plan to allow the company to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in
6490-591: 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 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
6600-573: The death of Joe Patterson's sister and owner of the Washington Times-Herald , Eleanor (Cissy) Patterson, in 1948, the Tribune Company purchased the paper and operated it until 1954, when the Times-Herald was absorbed by The Washington Post . Expecting a printer's strike in November 1948, the Tribune printed their paper early, mistakenly proclaiming " Dewey Defeats Truman " in the 1948 presidential election . Tribune entered
6710-428: The first quarter of 2017. In January 2017, Tribune Media announced that Peter Liguori would step down as President and CEO in March. On April 20, 2017, Bloomberg reported that Sinclair Broadcast Group was considering acquiring Tribune Media, contingent on plans by the FCC's new chairman, Ajit Pai , to reinstate the " UHF discount " (a policy which makes UHF stations only count half of their total audience towards
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#17327721941616820-511: The former name of NewsNation , a cable television network based in Chicago, Illinois, United States WFMT , a radio station (98.7 FM) licensed to Chicago, Illinois, United States, which operates on the frequency formerly belonging to the Tribune -owned FM station that used the call sign WGNB from 1945 until 1953 Shaoyang Wugang Airport , IATA code WGN White Gaussian noise Additive white Gaussian noise The ICAO airline designator for Western Global Airlines WGN, Journal of
6930-617: The history of the American media industry. In December 2012 the Tribune Co. emerged from bankruptcy. Tribune announced its sale to Hunt Valley, Maryland -based Sinclair Broadcast Group on May 8, 2017, but on August 9, 2018, Tribune cancelled the sale and sued Sinclair for breach of contract. On December 3, 2018, Nexstar Media Group announced that it would merge with Tribune Media for $ 4.1 billion. Within Nexstar, Tribune Media remains
7040-407: The intent to take the company private. The deal was approved by 97% of the company's shareholders on August 21, 2007. Privatization of the Tribune Company occurred on December 20, 2007 with termination of trading in Tribune stock at the close of the trading day. On December 21, 2007, Tribune and Oak Hill Capital Partners -controlled Local TV, LLC announced plans to collaborate in the formation of
7150-547: The largest bankruptcy in the history of the American media industry. On October 27, 2009, Thomas S. Ricketts purchased a majority ownership (95%) of the Chicago Cubs. The sale also included Wrigley Field and a 25% ownership stake in Comcast SportsNet Chicago , as part of a deal designed to help Tribune restructure. In October 2010, Randy Michaels , who was appointed CEO after Zell's purchase of
7260-431: 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. In January 1977, Tribune columnist Will Leonard died at age 64. In March 1978, the Tribune announced that it hired columnist Bob Greene from
7370-405: The leadership of publisher Harold Grumhaus and editor Clayton Kirkpatrick (1915–2004), 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
7480-451: The license holder for all of the former Tribune stations retained directly by Nexstar after the Nexstar acquisition. The largest broadcast merger in U.S. history was approved in 2019. The Tribune Company was founded on June 10, 1847 when the eponymous Chicago Daily Tribune published its first edition in a one-room plant located at LaSalle and Lake Streets in downtown Chicago. The original press run consisted of 400 copies printed on
7590-677: The managing editor, and Alfred Cowles, Sr. , brother of Edwin Cowles , initially was the bookkeeper. Each purchased one third of the Tribune . Under their leadership, the Tribune distanced itself from the Know Nothings, and became the main Chicago organ of the Republican Party . However, the paper continued to print anti-Catholic and anti-Irish editorials, in the wake of the massive famine immigration from Ireland . The Tribune absorbed three other Chicago publications under
7700-505: The national advertising sales organization of Tribune Publishing , was established in 2000 to take advantage of the company's expanded scale and scope. By 2001, revenues had grown to $ 5.25 billion. However, Tribune needed to pay down some of the debt that it accrued through the Times Mirror purchase; as a result, Tribune moved to sell various non-newspaper holdings operated by Times Mirror. Flight information provider Jeppesen Sanderson
7810-433: The network was shut down – along with CBS Corporation -owned UPN – to create The CW Television Network , which was a joint venture between CBS and Warner Bros . and affiliated with several Tribune-owned stations; Tribune did not maintain an ownership interest in the network. On April 2, 2007, Chicago-based investor Sam Zell announced plans to buy out the Tribune Company for $ 34.00 a share, totalling $ 8.2 billion, with
7920-448: The new editors strongly supported Abraham Lincoln , whom Medill helped secure the presidency in 1860, and pushed an abolitionist agenda. The paper remained a force in Republican politics for years afterwards. In 1861, the Tribune published new lyrics by William W. Patton for the song " John Brown's Body ". These rivaled the lyrics published two months later by Julia Ward Howe . Medill served as mayor of Chicago for one term after
8030-793: The new editors: the Free West in 1855, the Democratic Press of William Bross in 1858, and the Chicago Democrat in 1861, whose editor, John Wentworth , left his position when elected as Mayor of Chicago . Between 1858 and 1860, the paper was known as the Chicago Press & Tribune . On October 25, 1860, it became the Chicago Daily Tribune . Before and during the American Civil War ,
8140-539: The new success of comic books . At the same time, it launched the more successful and longer-lasting The Spirit Section , which was also an attempt by newspapers to compete with the new medium. Under McCormick's stewardship, the Tribune was a champion of modified spelling for simplicity (such as spelling "although" as "altho"). McCormick, a vigorous campaigner for the Republican Party, died in 1955, just four days before Democratic boss Richard J. Daley
8250-506: The newspaper in 1874 and ran it until his death in 1899. Medill's two grandsons, cousins Robert R. McCormick and Joseph Medill Patterson , assumed leadership in 1911. That same year, the Chicago Tribune ' s first newsprint mill opened in Thorold , Ontario , Canada . The mill marked the beginnings of the Canadian newsprint producer later known as QUNO, in which Tribune held an investment interest until 1995. Patterson established
8360-612: The newspaper industry, effectively doubling the size of Tribune's newspaper holdings. The Times Mirror merger added seven daily newspapers to Tribune's existing publishing properties, including the Los Angeles Times , the Long Island -based Newsday , The Baltimore Sun and the Hartford Courant . Through the deal, Tribune became the only media company that owned both newspapers and television stations in
8470-408: The newspapers that were part of its publishing division into a separate company. Its broadcasting, digital media and other assets (including Tribune Media Services , which among others, provides news and features content for Tribune's newspapers) would remain with the Tribune Company. The split came in the footsteps of similar spin-outs by News Corporation and Time Warner , which sought to improve
8580-455: The next eight years. Initially, the Tribune was not politically affiliated, but tended to support either the Whig or Free Soil parties against the Democrats in elections. By late 1853, it was frequently running editorials that criticized foreigners and Roman Catholics . About this time, it also became a strong proponent of temperance . However nativist its editorials may have been, it
8690-648: The oldest newspaper/broadcasting cross-ownerships in the country. (The Tribune ' s East Coast sibling, the New York Daily News , later established WPIX television and FM radio .) The Tribune ' s legendary sports editor Arch Ward created the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in 1933 as part of the city's Century of Progress exposition. From 1940 to 1943, the paper supplemented its comic strip offerings with The Chicago Tribune Comic Book , responding to
8800-696: The ouster of the Republican political boss of Illinois, Sen. William Lorimer . At the same time, the Tribune competed with the Hearst paper, the Chicago Examiner , in a circulation war . By 1914, the cousins succeeded in forcing out William Keeley, the newspaper's managing editor. By 1918, the Examiner was forced to merge with the Chicago Herald . In 1919, Patterson left the Tribune and moved to New York City to launch his own newspaper,
8910-399: The paper launched a tabloid edition targeted at 18- to 34-year-olds known as RedEye . Tribune Company Tribune Media Company , also known as Tribune Company , was an American multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Chicago , Illinois . Through Tribune Broadcasting , Tribune Media was one of the largest television broadcasting companies, owning 39 television stations across
9020-478: The paper's entertainment sections. 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 Buena Vista Television unit. "He has done
9130-554: 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 . In 1997, the Tribune celebrated its 150th anniversary in part by tapping longtime reporter Stevenson Swanson to edit
9240-541: 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 a November 23, 1975, column he wrote 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
9350-518: The position was being replaced by a national security writer. 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. Horrock, who shortly thereafter left the paper, was replaced by 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,
9460-505: The profitability of their properties by separating them from the struggling print industry. On November 20, 2013, Tribune announced it would cut 700 jobs in its newspaper operations, citing falling advertising revenue. The split was finalized on August 4, 2014, with the publishing arm being spun out as Tribune Publishing , and the remainder of the company renamed Tribune Media . On February 29, 2016, Tribune Media announced that it would review various "strategic alternatives" to increase
9570-484: The purchase of KTLA, Tribune became the fourth largest television station owner in the United States, behind the three major broadcast networks . The company acquired Newport News, Virginia newspaper, the Daily Press in 1986, but sold off the newspaper's co-owned cable television operations. To counteract a possible hostile corporate takeover in 1987, the Tribune Company developed a plan that allowed shareholders
9680-512: The right to purchase additional preferred shares from a new series of stock in the event that a buyer acquired 10% of the company's common stock or a tender offer for the company. Shareholders also ratified a two-for-one stock split. Tribune Entertainment experienced success in 1987 with the launch of the syndicated daytime talk show Geraldo . In 1988, Tribune purchased five weekly papers based in Santa Clara County, California . In
9790-460: The rival Sun-Times . 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
9900-673: The sale of Tribune Studios and related real estate in Los Angeles to private equity firm Hudson Capital, LLC, for $ 125 million. The parties also agreed to a five-year lease allowing its television station in the city, KTLA, to continue operating at the location through 2012. On April 28, 2008, Tribune completed an acquisition of real estate from TMCT Partnership. On July 29, 2008, Cablevision Systems Corporation completed its purchase of Newsday from Tribune. On September 8, 2008, United Airlines lost (and almost regained) $ 1 billion in market value when an archived Chicago Tribune article from 2002 about United filing for bankruptcy appeared in
10010-584: The sale of 7.7 million shares at $ 26.75 a share. In 1985, Tribune Broadcasting acquired Los Angeles independent station KTLA from Kohlberg Kravis Roberts for a record $ 510 million. Because of the Federal Communications Commission 's media cross-ownership regulations, which prohibit the ownership of a television station and newspaper in the same market, Tribune was forced to sell the Los Angeles Daily News . With
10120-551: The sale of some of its internet investments. In February 2000, Tribune acquired the remaining 67% interest in Qwest Broadcasting for $ 107 million, effectively adding two more stations to its roster, increasing its reach 27% of the country. In June 2000, Tribune acquired the Los Angeles–based Times Mirror Company in a US$ 8.3 billion merger transaction, the largest acquisition in the history of
10230-410: The sale was completed one week later on December 27. Tribune later announced its return to television production on March 19, 2013, with the relaunch of the production and distribution division as Tribune Studios (not to be confused with the former name of Los Angeles studio facility Sunset Bronson Studios ). On July 10, 2013, Tribune announced that it would split into two companies, spinning off
10340-704: The television industry then in its infancy, in 1948, with the establishment of WGN-TV in Chicago in April and WPIX in New York City in June of that year. In 1956, the Tribune Company purchased the Chicago American from William Randolph Hearst . In the 1960s, the company entered the booming Florida market, acquiring the Fort Lauderdale -based Gore Newspapers Company, owner of the Pompano -based Sun-Sentinel and Fort Lauderdale News in 1963 and
10450-401: The three largest media markets of New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago , as a result of cross-ownership waivers that were approved by the FCC. Among other advantages from the merger, including various economies of scale, Tribune's newspapers could now effectively compete for national advertising, as it has grown to become the third largest newspaper group in the country. Tribune Media Net,
10560-547: 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 [the transcripts] 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
10670-542: The wake of a dispute with some of its labor unions, Tribune sold the Daily News to British businessman Robert Maxwell in 1991. With changes in the media industry due to greater public access to the internet in the 1990s, Tribune Publishing began to sell off some of its newspaper properties. Tribune Broadcasting steadily acquired additional stations during the decade, while Tribune itself launched two new divisions, Tribune Ventures and Tribune Education. In 1993, Tribune Broadcasting launched Chicagoland Television (CLTV),
10780-415: 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 for Emerge magazine at the same time that he was writing a cover article on King for
10890-404: Was a neo-Gothic design by New York architects John Mead Howells and Raymond Hood . The newspaper sponsored a pioneering attempt at Arctic aviation in 1929, an attempted round-trip to Europe across Greenland and Iceland in a Sikorsky amphibious aircraft. But, the aircraft was destroyed by ice on July 15, 1929, near Ungava Bay at the tip of Labrador , Canada. The crew were rescued by
11000-460: Was acquired by Alden Global Capital , which operates its media properties through Digital First Media ; since then, the newspaper's coverage has evolved away from national and international news and toward coverage of Illinois and especially Chicago-area news. The Tribune was founded by James Kelly , John E. Wheeler, and Joseph K. C. Forrest, publishing the first edition on June 10, 1847. Numerous changes in ownership and editorship took place over
11110-495: 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 . Hawley formally resigned from the paper in early 1993, and pleaded guilty in April 1993. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison. In October 1993, the Tribune fired its longtime military affairs writer, retired Marine David Evans, saying publicly that
11220-579: Was dismissed in 1979. The Tribune Company entered first-run television syndication in 1975 with the debut of the U.S. Farm Report . The Times-Advocate in Escondido, California was purchased by the company in 1977. In October 1978, United Video Satellite Group uplinked WGN-TV's signal to satellite , becoming a national " superstation ", joining the ranks of WTCG (later WTBS, now WPCH-TV ) in Atlanta and WWOR-TV in New York City. During 1978,
11330-514: Was elected mayor for the first time. One of the great scoops in Tribune history came when it obtained the text of the Treaty of Versailles in June 1919. Another was its revelation of United States war plans on the eve of the Pearl Harbor attack. The Tribune ' s June 7, 1942, front page announcement that the United States had broken Japan's naval code was the revelation by the paper of
11440-573: Was not until February 10, 1855, that the Tribune formally affiliated itself with the nativist American or Know Nothing party, whose candidate Levi Boone was elected Mayor of Chicago the following month. Around 1854, part-owner Capt. J. D. Webster, later General Webster and chief of staff at the Battle of Shiloh , and Charles H. Ray of Galena, Illinois , through Horace Greeley , convinced Joseph Medill of Cleveland 's Leader to become managing editor. Ray became editor-in-chief, Medill became
11550-474: Was reorganized in 1968 by reincorporating under Delaware 's General Corporation Law , ending its Illinois incorporation, splitting its stock by four for one and forming a separate subsidiary of the Chicago Tribune . The 1970s brought another decade of acquisitions for the company including the purchase of a Los Angeles shopper in 1973, which became the Los Angeles Daily News . In 1973,
11660-679: Was resolutely disdainful of the British and French, and greatly enthusiastic for Chiang Kai-shek and Sen. Joseph McCarthy . When McCormick assumed the position of co-editor with his cousin Joseph Medill Patterson in 1910, the Tribune was the third-best-selling paper among Chicago's eight dailies, with a circulation of only 188,000. The young cousins added features such as advice columns and homegrown comic strips such as Little Orphan Annie and Moon Mullins . They promoted political crusades, and their first success came with
11770-592: Was sold to Boeing for $ 1.5 billion in October 2000. Also in October, the Institute for International Research purchased AchieveGlobal, a consulting and training firm for $ 100 million. Times Mirror Magazines was sold to Time, Inc. in November of that year for $ 475 million. Tribune divested its Tribune Education division to The McGraw-Hill Companies for $ 686 million in September 2000. After all these sales, Tribune still had $ 4 billion in long-term debt. Tribune started
11880-490: Was that of a crusading newspaper with an outlook that promoted American conservatism and opposed the New Deal . Its reporting and commentary reached markets outside Chicago through family and corporate relationships at the New York Daily News and the Washington Times-Herald . Through much of the 20th century into the early 21st, it employed a network of overseas news bureaus and foreign correspondents. In
11990-480: Was the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher behind the Gannett Company , with ten daily newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune , Los Angeles Times , Orlando Sentinel , Sun-Sentinel and The Baltimore Sun , and several commuter tabloids . In 2007, investors bought the company, taking on substantial debt. The subsequent 2008 bankruptcy of Tribune Company was the largest bankruptcy in
12100-565: Was the number one publisher of supplemental education materials. Tribune Education acquired an 80.5% stake in mass market children's book publisher Landoll in 1997. In June 1998, Tribune entered into a trade with Emmis Communications to swap WQCD-FM to the latter company, in exchange for acquiring two Emmis-owned television stations ( WXMI in Grand Rapids, Michigan and KTZZ in Seattle , Washington ). It later traded WGNX in Atlanta to
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