Editing Chicago Tribune

{{Short description|Major American newspaper, founded 1847}}
{{Redirect|The Trib|other newspapers with similar names|Tribune (disambiguation)}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox newspaper
| name = Chicago Tribune
| logo = Chicago Tribune Logo.svg
| logo_alt = Logo of the Chicago Tribune
| image = File:Front page of the Chicago Tribune, March 27, 2024.png
| image_size = 260px
| image_alt = 
| caption = The front page of the ''Chicago Tribune'' on March 27, 2024
| type = [[Daily newspaper]]
| format = [[Broadsheet]]
| owner = [[Tribune Publishing]]
| founders = {{ubl|[[James Kelly (journalist)|James Kelly]]|John E. Wheeler|Joseph K. C. Forrest}}
| publisher = 
| president = 
| chiefeditor = Mitch Pugh
| editor = 
| depeditor = 
| assoceditor = 
| maneditor = 
| generalmanager = Par Ridder
| newseditor = 
| managingeditordesign = 
| dirinteractive = 
| metroeditor = 
| metrochief = 
| opeditor = Chris Jones
| sportseditor = Amanda Kaschube
| photoeditor = Todd Panagopoulos
| staff = 
| foundation = {{Start date and age|1847|06|10}}
| political = 
| language = [[English language|English]]
| headquarters = [[Freedom Center (Chicago)]]
| publishing_country = United States
| circulation = 73,000  Average print circulation<ref name = majid>{{Cite news |last=Majid |first=Aisha |title=Top 25 US newspaper circulations: Print circulations of largest titles fall 14% in year to September 2023 |url=https://pressgazette.co.uk/media-audience-and-business-data/media_metrics/us-newspaper-circulation-2023/ |work=[[Press Gazette]] |date=June 24, 2022 |access-date=March 8, 2024}}</ref>
| circulation_date = 
| circulation_ref = 
| readership = 
| sister newspapers = 
| ISSN = 1085-6706
| eISSN = 2165-171X
| oclc = 7960243
| website = {{URL|chicagotribune.com}}
}}

The '''''Chicago Tribune''''' is an American daily newspaper based in [[Chicago]], Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper",<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chicago Tribune |url=https://muckrack.com/media-outlet/chicagotrib}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Relationship to Tribune Publishing |url=https://www.studio1847.io/relationship-to-tribune-publishing/ |access-date=September 16, 2023 |website=Studio1847.io |language=en-US}}</ref> a slogan from which its once integrated [[WGN (AM)|WGN radio]] and [[WGN-TV|WGN television]] received their call letters. It is the most-read daily newspaper in the [[Chicago metropolitan area]] and the [[Great Lakes region]], and the [[List of newspapers in the United States|sixth-largest]] newspaper by print circulation in the United States.<ref name = turvill>{{Cite news |last=Turvill |first=William |title=Top 25 US newspaper circulations: Print sales fall another 12% in 2022 |url=https://pressgazette.co.uk/us-newspaper-circulations-2022/ |work=[[Press Gazette]] |date=June 24, 2022 |access-date=June 28, 2022}}</ref>

In the 1850s, under [[Joseph Medill]], the ''Chicago Tribune'' became closely associated with the Illinois politician [[Abraham Lincoln]], and the then new [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]]'s progressive wing. In the 20th century, under Medill's grandson 'Colonel' [[Robert R. McCormick]], its reputation was that of a crusading newspaper with an outlook that promoted [[Conservatism in the United States|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|New York ''Daily News'']] and the ''[[Washington Times-Herald]]''.  Through much of the 20th century and into the early 21st, it employed a network of overseas news bureaus and foreign correspondents. In the 1960s, its corporate parent owner, [[Tribune Company]] began expanding into new markets buying additional daily papers. In 2008, for the first time in its history, its editorial page endorsed a Democrat, [[Barack Obama]], a [[United States Senate|U.S. senator]] from Illinois, for U.S. president.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2008-10-19-chi-tribune-2008-presidential-endorsement-story.html |title=Tribune 2008 presidential endorsement |last=Editorial |work=Chicago Tribune |access-date=May 22, 2019 |language=en-US}}</ref>

Originally published solely as a [[broadsheet]], the ''Tribune'' announced on January 13, 2009 that it would continue publishing as a broadsheet for home delivery, but would publish in [[Tabloid (newspaper format)|tabloid]] format for [[newsstand]], news box, and commuter station sales.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-bn-xpm-2009-01-13-28521446-story.html |title=Tribune to launch tabloid for newsstands |work=Chicago Tribune |date=January 13, 2009 |access-date=June 19, 2020}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-xpm-2011-08-31-chi-chicago-tribune-broadsheet-edition-to-replace-tabloid-version-on-newsstands-20110831-story.html |title=Chicago Tribune drops tabloid edition of paper |work=Chicago Tribune |date=August 31, 2011 |access-date=April 7, 2015}}</ref>

The ''Tribune'' was owned by parent company [[Tribune Publishing]]. In May 2021, Tribune Publishing 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'' settled a lawsuit over illegal charges to consumers in 2013 <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2013/05/17/tribune-subscriber-class-action-suit-settled-2/ | title=Tribune subscriber class-action suit settled | website=[[Chicago Tribune]] | date=May 17, 2013 }}</ref> and was again sued for deceptive billing practices in 2023.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/388706/subscriber-sues-tribune-publishing-accusing-it-of.html | title=Subscriber Sues Tribune Publishing, Accusing It of Deceptive Billing }}</ref>

==History==
===19th century===
{{More citations needed section|date=January 2021}}
[[File:Chicago Tribune Advertisement 1870.jpg|thumb|left|An 1870 advertisement for ''Chicago Tribune'' subscriptions]]
[[File:Cheer up.jpg|thumb|The lead editorial in the ''Chicago Tribune'' following the [[Great Chicago Fire]]]]
The ''Tribune'' was founded by [[James Kelly (journalist)|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 the next eight years. Initially, the ''Tribune'' was not politically affiliated, but tended to support either the [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]] or [[Free Soil Party|Free Soil]] parties against the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]] in elections.<ref>{{Harv|Wendt|1979|pp=23, 27–28}}</ref> By late 1853, it was frequently running [[editorial]]s that criticized foreigners and [[Roman Catholics]].<ref>{{Harv|Cole|1948|p=14}}</ref> About this time, it also became a strong proponent of [[The Temperance movement in the United States|temperance]].<ref>{{Harv|Keefe|1971|p=131}}</ref> However [[nativism (politics)|nativist]] its editorials may have been, it was not until February 10, 1855, that the ''Tribune'' formally affiliated itself with the nativist American or [[Know-Nothing movement|Know Nothing]] party, whose candidate [[Levi Boone]] was elected [[Mayor of Chicago]] the following month.<ref>{{Harv|Keefe|1975|pp=233–4}}</ref>

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, Ohio|Cleveland]]'s ''[[The Plain Dealer|Leader]]'' to become managing editor.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Dante |first=Harris L. |title=The Chicago Tribune's 'Lost' Years, 1865–1874 |journal=Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society |volume=58 |number=2 |date=1965 |page=140 |jstor=40190285 |access-date=March 8, 2021 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/40190285}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Ron |last=Grossman |title=The Man Who Built a Paper, a Party and a Presidency |date=June 8, 1997 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1997-06-08-9706300105-story.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Tim |last=Jones |title=Joseph Medill buys the Chicago Tribune |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=December 18, 2007 |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/chi-chicagodays-medill-story-story.html}}</ref> Ray became editor-in-chief, Medill became the managing editor, and [[Alfred Cowles, Sr.]], brother of [[Edwin Cowles]], initially was the bookkeeper. Each purchased one third of the ''Tribune''.<ref>{{cite book|author=Rushton, Wyatt|title=Joseph Medill and the Chicago Tribune (thesis)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gcc7AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA7-IA2|year=1916|access-date=October 24, 2007}} and {{cite book|author=White, James Terry|title=The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography: Being the History of the United States|url=https://archive.org/details/nationalcyclopa01whitgoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/nationalcyclopa01whitgoog/page/n255 224]|publisher=James T. White & Company, via New York Public Library via Internet Archive full view|year=1895|access-date=October 24, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Robert Norton Smith|title=Chapter 1, The Colonel, The Life and Legend of Robert R. McCormick 1880–1955|url=https://archive.org/details/colonellifelegen00smit|date=June 10, 1997|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Co. via The New York Times Company|isbn=0-395-53379-1|access-date=October 24, 2007}}</ref> Under their leadership, the ''Tribune'' distanced itself from the Know Nothings, and became the main Chicago organ of the [[United States Republican Party|Republican Party]].<ref>{{Harv|Wendt|1979|pp=57–65}}</ref> However, the paper continued to print anti-Catholic and anti-Irish editorials, in the wake of the massive [[Great Famine (Ireland)|famine immigration from Ireland]].<ref>{{Harv|Cole|1948|p=66}}</ref>

The ''Tribune'' absorbed three other Chicago publications under 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 (mayor)|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''.<ref>[http://www.archives.chicagotribune.com/1860/10/25 ''Chicago Daily Tribune'']{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, October 25, 1860.</ref> Before and during the [[American Civil War]], the new editors strongly supported [[Abraham Lincoln]], whom Medill helped secure the presidency in 1860, and pushed an [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionist]] agenda.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}} The paper remained a force in Republican politics for years afterwards.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}

In 1861, the ''Tribune'' published new lyrics by [[William Weston Patton|William W. Patton]] for the song "[[John Brown's Body]]". These rivaled [[The Battle Hymn of the Republic|the lyrics]] published two months later by [[Julia Ward Howe]]. Medill served as mayor of Chicago for one term after the [[Great Chicago Fire]] of 1871.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}

===20th century===
[[File:Chicago Tribune, September 4, 1919.gif|thumb|''Tribune'' in 1919]]
In the 20th-century, Colonel [[Robert R. McCormick]], who took control in the 1920s, the paper was strongly [[United States non-interventionism|isolationist]] and aligned with the [[Old Right (United States)|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 [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]] and the [[New Deal]] of [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], was resolutely disdainful of the British and French, and greatly enthusiastic for [[Chiang Kai-shek]] and Sen. [[Joseph McCarthy]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

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.<ref name="current">"Robert R. McCormick," ''Current Biography 1941'', pp. 545–547.</ref> 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 the ouster of the Republican political boss of Illinois, Sen. [[William Lorimer (politician)|William Lorimer]].<ref name="current" /> At the same time, the ''Tribune'' competed with the Hearst paper, the ''[[Chicago American|Chicago Examiner]]'', in a [[Chicago circulation wars|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 Record-Herald|Chicago Herald]]''.

In 1919, Patterson left the ''Tribune'' and moved to [[New York City]] to launch his own newspaper, the ''[[New York Daily News]]''.<ref name="current"/> 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 [[Architectural design competition|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 was a [[neo-Gothic]] design by New York architects [[John Mead Howells]] and [[Raymond Hood]]. {{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

The newspaper sponsored a pioneering attempt at [[Arctic]] aviation in 1929, an attempted round-trip to Europe across [[Greenland]] and [[Iceland]] in a [[Sikorsky Aircraft|Sikorsky]] amphibious aircraft.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archive.lib.msu.edu/DMC/tribune/trib06301929/trib06301929003.pdf|title= Great Circle Route|work=Chicago Tribune|date=June 30, 1929|access-date=April 7, 2015}}</ref> 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 the Canadian science ship [[CSS Acadia|CSS ''Acadia'']].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/photo/chi-aviation_01620081001145015,0,4192965.photo |title=Bowler over Evanston |work=Chicago Tribune |date=July 3, 1929 |access-date=April 7, 2015}}</ref>

The ''Tribune''{{'}}s reputation for innovation extended to radio; it bought an early station, WDAP, in 1924 and renamed it [[WGN (AM)|WGN]], the station [[call letters]] standing for the paper's self-description as the "World's Greatest Newspaper". [[WGN-TV|WGN Television]] was launched on April 5, 1948. These broadcast stations remained ''Tribune'' properties for nine decades and were among 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 [[WFAN-FM|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.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

From 1940 to 1943, the paper supplemented its comic strip offerings with ''The Chicago Tribune Comic Book'', responding to the new success of [[comic book]]s. At the same time, it launched the more successful and longer-lasting ''[[Spirit (comics)|The Spirit Section]]'', which was also an attempt by newspapers to compete with the new medium.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://strippersguide.blogspot.com/search/label/Chicago%20Tribune%20Comic%20Book |title=Stripper's Guide |publisher=Strippersguide.blogspot.com |access-date=April 7, 2015}}</ref>

Under McCormick's stewardship, the ''Tribune'' was a champion of [[English-language spelling reform|modified spelling]] for simplicity (such as spelling "although" as "altho").<ref>{{cite journal |first=Burke |last=Shipley |title=Spelling the Chicago Tribune Way, 1934–1975, Part I |url=http://spellingsociety.org/uploaded_journals/j24-journal-1420110509.pdf |journal=Journal of the Simplified Spelling Society |publisher=[[English Spelling Society]] |number=24 |date=1998 |access-date=January 2, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=John B. |last=Shipley |title=Spelling the Chicago Tribune Way, 1934–1975, Part II |url=http://www.spellingsociety.org/uploaded_journals/j25-journal-1420110618.pdf |journal=Journal of the Simplified Spelling Society |publisher=[[English Spelling Society]] |number=25 |date=1999 |access-date=January 2, 2016}}</ref> McCormick, a vigorous campaigner for the Republican Party, died in 1955, just four days before Democratic boss [[Richard J. Daley]] 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 a closely guarded military secret.<ref>{{cite news |title=Navy had Word of Jap Plan to Strike at Sea; Knew Dutch Harbor was a Feint |url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1942/06/07/page/1/article/navy-had-word-of-jap-plan-to-strike-at-sea |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=June 7, 1942 |access-date=January 4, 2016}}</ref> 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''.<ref>{{cite book |pages=[https://archive.org/details/warstoriesreport0000evan/page/65 65–66] |title=War Stories: Reporting in the Time of Conflict from the Crimea to Iraq |first=Harold |last=Evans |date=2003 |publisher=Bunker Hill Publishing |isbn=9781593730055 |author-link=Harold Evans |url=https://archive.org/details/warstoriesreport0000evan/page/65 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.freedomforum.org/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131003141558/http://www.newseum.org/warstories/essay/secrecy.htm|url-status=dead|title=Homepage|archivedate=October 3, 2013|website=Freedom Forum}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |journal=[[Proceedings (magazine)|Proceedings]] |publisher=[[United States Naval Institute]] |volume=103 |number=9 |page=895 |title=Freedom of the Press or Treason? |first=Grant |last=Sanger, M. D. |date=September 1977 |url=http://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1977-09/freedom-press-or-treason |access-date=January 4, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=National Security v. the Role of the Press |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/newswar/part1/role.html |publisher=[[PBS]] |work=[[Frontline (U.S. TV series)|Frontline]] |date=February 20, 2007 |access-date=January 4, 2016}}</ref>

====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]]''.

===21st century===
[[Ann Marie Lipinski]] was the paper's editor from February 2001 until stepping down on July 17, 2008. [[Gerould W. Kern]] was named the paper's editor in July 2008.<ref name="nyt2008-07-15">{{cite news |author=Richard Pérez-Peña |date=July 15, 2008 |title=Two Leaders to Step Down at Tribune Newspapers |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/business/media/15paper.html |url-access=limited |access-date=June 19, 2020}}</ref> In early August 2008, managing editor for news [[Hanke Gratteau]] resigned, and several weeks later, managing editor for features [[James Warren (journalist)|James Warren]] resigned as well.<ref name="chicagoreader1">{{cite web|last=Miner|first=Michael|url=http://blogs.chicagoreader.com/news-bites/2008/08/21/hirt-warren-out/|title=Hirt In; Warren Out|publisher=Chicago Reader|date=August 21, 2008|access-date=September 26, 2009|archive-date=December 1, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201213104/http://blogs.chicagoreader.com/news-bites/2008/08/21/hirt-warren-out/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Both were replaced by [[Jane Hirt]], who previously had been the editor of the ''Tribune''{{'}}s ''[[RedEye]]'' tabloid.<ref name="chicagoreader1"/>

In June 2000, Times Mirror merged with Tribune Company making ''[[The Baltimore Sun]]'' and its community papers Baltimore Sun Media Group / Patuxent Publishing a subsidiary of Tribune.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/about/bal-about-sun-story.html |title=About The Baltimore Sun |publisher=Baltimore Sun |access-date=June 19, 2020 |archive-date=June 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622072840/https://www.baltimoresun.com/about/bal-about-sun-story.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/about/bal-about-sun-exec-pro-story.html |title=Baltimore Sun Media Group Executive Profiles |date=February 20, 2020 |publisher=Baltimore Sun |access-date=June 19, 2020}}</ref>

In July 2000, Tribune outdoors columnist John Husar, who had written about his need for a new liver transplant, died at age 63, just over a week after receiving part of a new liver from a live donor.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2000-07-21-0007210068-story.html|title=John Husar, 63, Tribune Writer|website=Chicago Tribune|date=July 21, 2000 |access-date=June 19, 2020}}</ref>

Tribune's Baltimore Community papers include ''Arbutus Times'', ''Baltimore Messenger'', ''[[Catonsville Times]]'', ''Columbia Flier'', ''[[The Howard County Times|Howard County Times]]'', ''[[The Jeffersonian (newspaper)|The Jeffersonian]]'', ''Laurel Leader'', ''Lifetimes'', ''North County News'', ''Northeast Booster'', ''Northeast Reporter'', ''Owings Mills Times'', and ''Towson Times''.

The ''Howard County Times'' was named 2010 Newspaper of the Year by the Suburban Newspaper Association.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://corporate.tribune.com/pressroom/?p=2102 |title=Tribune.com » Library » Howard County Times named 2010 Newspaper of the Year |publisher=Corporate.tribune.com |date=September 24, 2010 |access-date=March 2, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120706135126/http://corporate.tribune.com/pressroom/?p=2102 |archive-date=July 6, 2012  }}</ref>

The ''Towson Times'' expands coverage beyond the Towson area and includes Baltimore County government and politics.<ref name="explorebaltimorecounty">{{cite web|url=http://www.explorebaltimorecounty.com/|title=Baltimore County - baltimoresun.com|publisher=explorebaltimorecounty.com|access-date=January 27, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.patuxent.com/publications.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021010095716/http://www.patuxent.com/publications.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 10, 2002 |title=Tribune Company |publisher=Patuxent.com |date=December 31, 2012 |access-date=March 2, 2013 }}</ref>

The ''Tribune'' won five Pulitzer prizes in the first decade of the 21st century.<ref name="chicagotribune.com"/> Salopek won his second Pulitzer for the ''Tribune'' in 2001 for international reporting, and that same year an explanatory reporting team—lead writers of which were [[Louise Kiernan]], [[Jon Hilkevitch]], [[Laurie Cohen]], [[Robert Manor]], Andrew Martin, [[John Schmeltzer]], Alex Rodriguez and [[Andrew Zajac]]—won the honor for a profile of the chaotic U.S. air traffic system.<ref name="chicagotribune.com"/><ref>{{cite news|first=Monica|last=Davey|title=Tribune awarded 2 Pulitzers|work=Chicago Tribune|page=6|date=April 17, 2001}}</ref> In 2003, editorial writer [[Cornelia Grumman]] snagged the award for editorial writing.<ref name="chicagotribune.com"/> In 2005, [[Julia Keller]] won a Pulitzer for feature reporting on a tornado that struck [[Utica, Illinois]].<ref name="chicagotribune.com"/> And, in 2008, an investigative reporting team including [[Patricia Callahan]], [[Maurice Possley]], [[Sam Roe]], Ted Gregory, [[Michael Oneal]], [[Evan Osnos]] and photojournalist [[Scott Strazzante]] won the Pulitzer for its series about faulty government regulation of defective toys, cribs and car seats.<ref name="chicagotribune.com"/><ref>{{cite web|last=Miner|first=Michael|url=http://blogs.chicagoreader.com/news-bites/2008/02/19/tribune-blogger-win-polk-awards/|title=Tribune, blogger win Polk awards|publisher=Chicago Reader|date=February 19, 2008|access-date=September 26, 2009|archive-date=October 6, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006012251/http://blogs.chicagoreader.com/news-bites/2008/02/19/tribune-blogger-win-polk-awards/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In late 2001, sports columnist [[Michael Holley]] announced he was leaving the ''Tribune'' after just two months because he was homesick.<ref name="chireader">{{cite web|author=Michael Miner|url=https://securesite.chireader.com/cgi-bin/Archive/abridged2.bat?path=2001/011214/HOTTYPE&search=Holley|title=Reader Archive-Extract: 2001/011214/HOTTYPE|publisher=Securesite.chireader.com|access-date=September 26, 2009}}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> He ultimately returned to ''[[The Boston Globe]]'', where he had been working immediately before the ''Tribune'' had hired him.<ref name="chireader"/>

On September 15, 2002, Lipinski wrote a terse, page-one note informing readers that the paper's longtime columnist, [[Bob Greene]], resigned effective immediately after acknowledging "engaging in inappropriate sexual conduct some years ago with a girl in her late teens whom he met in connection with his newspaper column." The conduct later was revealed to have occurred in 1988 with a woman who was of the age of consent in Illinois. "Greene's behavior was a serious violation of ''Tribune'' ethics and standards for its journalists," Lipinski wrote. "We deeply regret the conduct, its effect on the young woman and the impact this disclosure has on the trust our readers placed in Greene and this newspaper."<ref>{{cite news|first=Ann Marie|last=Lipinski|title=To our readers|work=Chicago Tribune|page=1|date=September 15, 2002}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Pappu|first=Sridhar|url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/hottype/2002/020920_1.html|title=Articles & Archives|newspaper=Chicago Reader|access-date=September 26, 2009|archive-date=February 26, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226002510/http://www.chicagoreader.com/hottype/2002/020920_1.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In January 2003, [[Mike Downey (columnist)|Mike Downey]], formerly of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', was hired as new ''Tribune'' sports columnist. He and colleague Rick Morrissey would write the ''In the Wake of the News Column'' originated by [[Ring Lardner]].

In March 2004, the ''Tribune'' announced that freelance reporter [[Uli Schmetzer]], who retired from the ''Tribune'' in 2002 after 16&nbsp;years as a foreign correspondent, had fabricated the name and occupation of a person he had quoted in a story. The paper terminated Schmetzer as a contract reporter and began a review of the 300 stories that Schmetzer had written over the prior three years.<ref>{{cite news|first=Don|last=Wycliff|title=From the Public Editor – How a journalist's career came undone|work=Chicago Tribune|page=27|date=March 5, 2004}}</ref>

In May 2004, the ''Tribune'' revealed that freelance reporter [[Mark Falanga]] was unable to verify some facts that he inserted in a lifestyle-related column that ran on April 18, 2004, about an expensive lunch at a Chicago restaurant—namely, that the restaurant charged $15 for a bottle of water and $35 for a pasta entree. "Upon questioning, the freelance writer indicated the column was based on an amalgam of three restaurants and could not verify the prices," the paper noted.<ref>{{cite news|first=Mark|last=Falanga|title=Mr. Big City feels like Mr. Big Idiot|work=Chicago Tribune|page=11|date=April 18, 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Corrections and Clarifications|work=Chicago Tribune|page=2|date=May 9, 2004}}</ref> After the correction, the ''Tribune'' stopped using Falanga.

In October 2004, ''Tribune'' editor [[Ann Marie Lipinski]] at the last minute spiked a story written for the paper's WomanNews section by freelance reporter [[Lisa Bertagnoli]] titled "You c_nt say that (or can you?)," about a noted [[vulgarism]].<ref name="chicagoreader.com">{{cite news|last=Joravsky|first=Ben|url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/hottype/2004/041105_1.html|title=Articles & Archives|newspaper=Chicago Reader|access-date=September 26, 2009|archive-date=August 8, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070808023258/http://www.chicagoreader.com/hottype/2004/041105_1.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The paper ordered every spare body to go to the ''Tribune''{{'}}s printing plant to pull already-printed WomanNews sections containing the story from the October 27 package of preprinted sections in the ''Tribune''.<ref name="chicagoreader.com"/>

In September 2008, the ''Tribune'' considered hiring controversial sports columnist [[Jay Mariotti]], shortly after his abrupt resignation from ''Tribune'' archrival ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]''.<ref name="archives.chicagotribune.com">{{cite news|last=Kirk|first=Jim|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2008/sep/16/magazine/red-080916mariotti-talks|title=Former ''Sun-Times'' columnist Mariotti not joining ''Tribune'' – ''Chicago Tribune''|publisher=Archives.chicagotribune.com|date=September 16, 2008|access-date=September 26, 2009}}</ref> Discussions ultimately ended, however, after the ''Sun-Times'' threatened to sue for violating Mariotti's noncompete agreement, which was to run until August 2009.<ref name="archives.chicagotribune.com"/> Sports columnist Rick Morrissey defected to the ''Sun-Times'' in December 2009.

In April 2009, 55 Tribune reporters and editors signed their names to an e-mail sent to Kern and managing editor Jane Hirt, questioning why the newspaper's marketing department had solicited subscribers' opinions on stories before they were published, and suggesting that the practice raised ethical questions as well as legal and competitive issues. Reporters declined to speak on the record to the Associated Press about their issues. "We'll let the e-mail speak for itself," reporter John Chase told the AP. In the wake of the controversy, Kern abruptly discontinued the effort, which he described as "a brief market research project".<ref name="sdut30apr2009">{{cite news | url=http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2009/apr/30/us-tribune-reader-survey-043009/ | title=Reader survey of stories roils tribune newsroom | work=San Diego Union-Tribune | date=April 30, 2009 | agency=Associated Press | access-date=November 25, 2015 | first=Herbert G. | last=McCann | archive-date=November 25, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125223142/http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2009/apr/30/us-tribune-reader-survey-043009/ | url-status=dead }}</ref>

In the first decade of the 21st century, the ''Tribune'' had multiple rounds of reductions of staff through layoffs and buyouts as it has coped with the industrywide declines in advertising revenues:
* In December 2005, the ''Tribune'' eliminated 28 editorial positions through a combination of buyouts and layoffs, including what were believed to be the first layoffs in the paper's history.<ref name="Rosenthal 1">{{cite news|first=Phil|last=Rosenthal|title=28 newsroom jobs, New City News cut by Tribune|work=Chicago Tribune|page=1|date=December 2, 2005}}</ref> Among the reporters who left the paper in that round were Carol Kleiman, Bill Jauss and Connie Lauerman.<ref name="Rosenthal 1"/>
* In June 2007, about 25 newsroom employees took buyouts, including well-known bylines like [[Charles Madigan]], Michael Hirsley and Ronald Kotulak, along with noted photographer [[Pete Souza]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newstips.org/print.php?section=&main_id=762|title=Community Media Workshop|publisher=Newstips.org|access-date=September 26, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727122322/http://www.newstips.org/print.php/?section=&main_id=762|archive-date=July 27, 2011}}</ref>
* In March 2008, the paper gave buyouts to about 25 newsroom employees, including sportswriter [[Sam Smith (sportswriter)|Sam Smith]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Miner|first=Michael|url=http://blogs.chicagoreader.com/news-bites/2008/03/19/alan-solomon-crazy/|title=Is Alan Solomon crazy? &#124; The Blog &#124; Chicago Reader|publisher=Blogs.chicagoreader.com|date=March 19, 2008|access-date=September 26, 2009|archive-date=December 7, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207123404/http://blogs.chicagoreader.com/news-bites/2008/03/19/alan-solomon-crazy/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* On August 15, 2008, the ''Tribune'' laid-off more than 40 newsroom and other editorial employees, including reporters Rick Popely, Ray Quintanilla, [[Lew Freedman]], Michael Martinez and Robert Manor.<ref name="blogs.chicagoreader.com">{{cite web|last=Miner|first=Michael|url=http://blogs.chicagoreader.com/news-bites/2008/08/17/tribune-casualty-list/|title=The Tribune casualty list &#124; The Blog &#124; Chicago Reader|publisher=Blogs.chicagoreader.com|date=August 17, 2008|access-date=September 26, 2009|archive-date=December 1, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201210357/http://blogs.chicagoreader.com/news-bites/2008/08/17/tribune-casualty-list/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Also in August 2008, about 36 editorial employees took voluntary buyouts or resigned, including well-known bylines like Michael Tackett, Ron Silverman, Timothy McNulty, Ed Sherman, Evan Osnos, Steve Franklin, Maurice Possley, Hanke Gratteau, Chuck Osgood and Skip Myslenski.<ref name="blogs.chicagoreader.com"/><ref>{{cite web|last=Miner|first=Michael|url=http://blogs.chicagoreader.com/news-bites/2008/08/18/paul-salopek-correction/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080924091704/http://blogs.chicagoreader.com/news-bites/2008/08/18/paul-salopek-correction/|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 24, 2008|title=Paul Salopek Correction &#124; The Blog &#124; Chicago Reader|publisher=Blogs.chicagoreader.com|date=August 18, 2008|access-date=September 26, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Miner|first=Michael|url=http://blogs.chicagoreader.com/news-bites/2008/08/18/more-trib-losses/|title=More Trib Losses &#124; The Blog &#124; Chicago Reader|publisher=Blogs.chicagoreader.com|date=August 18, 2008|access-date=September 26, 2009|archive-date=December 1, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201210454/http://blogs.chicagoreader.com/news-bites/2008/08/18/more-trib-losses/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Phil|last=Rosenthal|title=Tribune cuts 40 more in newsroom – 2-week total 80 as paper works to stem losses|work=Chicago Tribune|page=3|date=August 16, 2008}}</ref>
* On November 12, 2008, five editorial employees in the paper's Washington, D.C. bureau were laid off, including [[John Crewdson]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Miner|first=Michael|url=http://blogs.chicagoreader.com/news-bites/2008/11/12/tribune-lays-john-crewdson-others/|title=Tribune lays off John Crewdson, others &#124; The Blog &#124; Chicago Reader|publisher=Blogs.chicagoreader.com|date=November 12, 2008|access-date=September 26, 2009|archive-date=March 15, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090315090339/http://blogs.chicagoreader.com/news-bites/2008/11/12/tribune-lays-john-crewdson-others/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* On December 4, 2008, about 11 newsroom employees were laid-off, with one sports columnist, [[Mike Downey (columnist)|Mike Downey]], having departed several weeks earlier when his contract was not renewed. Well-known bylines who were laid off included Neil Milbert, Stevenson Swanson, Lisa Anderson, Phil Marty, Charles Storch, Courtney Flynn and Deborah Horan.<ref>{{cite web|last=Miner|first=Michael|url=http://blogs.chicagoreader.com/news-bites/2008/12/04/more-tribune-layoffs/|title=More Tribune layoffs &#124; The Blog &#124; Chicago Reader|publisher=Blogs.chicagoreader.com|date=December 4, 2008|access-date=September 26, 2009|archive-date=December 23, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081223202707/http://blogs.chicagoreader.com/news-bites/2008/12/04/more-tribune-layoffs/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* In February 2009, the ''Tribune'' laid off about 20 editorial employees, including several foreign correspondents, and some feature reporters and editors, although several, including Charles Leroux and Jeff Lyon, technically took buyouts. Among those who were let go were reporters Emily Nunn, Susan Chandler, Christine Spolar and Joel Greenberg.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=32995|title=Chicago Tribune trims newsroom staff &#124; Crain's Chicago Business|publisher=Chicagobusiness.com|date=February 12, 2009|access-date=September 26, 2009}}</ref><ref name="chicagobusiness.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=33660|title=Trib to pare newsroom 20% &#124; Crain's Chicago Business|publisher=Chicagobusiness.com|date=April 13, 2009|access-date=September 26, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Miner|first=Michael|url=http://blogs.chicagoreader.com/news-bites/2009/02/12/more-layoffs-tribune/|title=More layoffs at Tribune &#124; The Blog &#124; Chicago Reader|publisher=Blogs.chicagoreader.com|date=February 12, 2009|access-date=September 26, 2009|archive-date=March 21, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090321195417/http://blogs.chicagoreader.com/news-bites/2009/02/12/more-layoffs-tribune/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* On April 22, 2009, the paper laid off 53 newsroom employees, including well-known bylines like Patrick Reardon, Melissa Isaacson, Russell Working, Jo Napolitano, Susan Diesenhouse, Beth Botts, Lou Carlozo, Jessica Reaves, Tom Hundley, Alan Artner, Eric Benderoff, James P. Miller, Bob Sakamoto, Terry Bannon and John Mullin.<ref>{{cite news|last=Miner|first=Michael|url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/TheBlog/archives/2009/04/22/53-out-at-tribune--victims-of-changing-priorities|title=53 out at Tribune – victims of "changing priorities" &#124; The Blog|newspaper=Chicago Reader|date=April 22, 2009|access-date=September 26, 2009}}</ref> That number was less than the 90 newsroom jobs that Crain's Chicago Business previously had reported were to be eliminated.<ref name="chicagobusiness.com"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://newscycle.wordpress.com/2009/04/13/crains-chicago-tribune-to-lay-off-20-percent-of-newsroom/|title=Crain's: Chicago Tribune to Lay Off 20 Percent of Newsroom « News Cycle|date=April 14, 2009|publisher=Newscycle.wordpress.com|access-date=September 26, 2009}}</ref>

The ''Tribune'' broke the story on May 29, 2009, that several students had been admitted to the University of Illinois based upon connections or recommendations by the school's Board of Trustees, Chicago politicians, and members of the [[Rod Blagojevich]] administration. Initially denying the existence of a so-called "Category I" admissions program, university President B. Joseph "Joe" White and Chancellor Richard Herman later admitted that there were instances of preferential treatment. Although they claimed the list was short and their role was minor, the ''Tribune'', in particular, revealed emails through a FOIA finding that White had received a recommendation for a relative of convicted fundraiser [[Tony Rezko]] to be admitted. The Tribune also later posted emails from Herman pushing for underqualified students to be accepted.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2009/06/09/pols_press_for_hearings_in_uis_cloutgate_scandal |title=Pols press for hearings in UI's 'Cloutgate' scandal |newspaper=[[The News-Gazette (Champaign-Urbana)|The News-Gazette]] |date=June 9, 2009 |access-date=January 4, 2016 |location=[[Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area|Champaign-Urbana, Illinois]] |first=Julie |last=Wurth}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=June 7, 2009 |url=http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/06/university-of-illinois-boland-white.html |title=U. of I. leaders urged to resign |publisher=Chicago Breaking News |access-date=September 26, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090622190437/http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/06/university-of-illinois-boland-white.html |archive-date=June 22, 2009 }}</ref> The ''Tribune'' has since filed suit against the university administration under the [[Freedom of Information Act (United States)|Freedom of Information Act]] to acquire the names of students benefited by administrative clout and impropriety.

On February 8, 2010, the ''Chicago Tribune'' shrank its newspaper's width by an inch. They said that the new format was becoming the industry standard and that there would be minimal content changes.

In July 2011, the ''Chicago Tribune'' underwent its first round of layoffs of editorial employees in more than two years, letting go about 20 editors and reporters.<ref name="timeoutchicago.com">{{cite magazine |url=http://timeoutchicago.com/arts-culture/chicago-media-blog/14864443/newsroom-layoffs-show-tribune%E2%80%99s-true-colors |title=Newsroom layoffs show Tribune's true colors |magazine=Time Out Chicago |date=July 22, 2011 |access-date=March 2, 2013 |archive-date=May 12, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512163052/http://www.timeoutchicago.com/arts-culture/chicago-media-blog/14864443/newsroom-layoffs-show-tribune%E2%80%99s-true-colors |url-status=dead }}</ref> Among those let go were DuPage County reporter [[Art Barnum]], Editorial Board member [[Pat Widder]] and photographer [[Dave Pierini]].<ref name="timeoutchicago.com"/><ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://timeoutchicago.com/arts-culture/chicago-media-blog/14865769/radio-101-new-station-has-a-lot-to-learn-before-it%E2%80%99s-ready- |title=Radio 101: New station has a lot to learn before it's ready for |magazine=Time Out Chicago |date=July 25, 2011 |access-date=March 2, 2013}}</ref>

On March 15, 2012, the ''Tribune'' laid off 15 editorial staffers, including security guard [[Wendell Smothers]] (Smothers then died on November 12, 2012).<ref name="timeoutchicago">{{cite web|url=http://www.timeoutchicago.com/arts-culture/chicago-media-blog/15189846/tribune-stops-the-presses-for-15-more-staffers|title=Tribune stops the presses for 15 more staffers|publisher= Time Out Chicago|access-date=January 27, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201182354/http://www.timeoutchicago.com/arts-culture/chicago-media-blog/15189846/tribune-stops-the-presses-for-15-more-staffers|archive-date=February 1, 2014}}</ref><ref name="chicagotribune">{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2012-11-16-ct-met-smothers-obit-20121116-story.html|title=Wendell Smothers, 1960–2012|date=November 16, 2012 |publisher=Chicago Tribune|access-date=June 19, 2020}}</ref> At the same time, the paper gave buyouts to six editorial staffers, including Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter William Mullen, Barbara Mahany and Nancy Reese.<ref name="chicagoreader">{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2012/02/10/bill-mullen|title=Bill Mullen|date=February 11, 2012|publisher=Chicago Reader|access-date=January 27, 2014}}</ref>

In June 2012, the ''Tribune''{{'}}s Pulitzer Prize-winning cultural critic [[Julia Keller]] left the paper to join the faculty of [[Ohio University]] and to pursue a career as a novelist.<ref name="timeoutchicago2">{{cite web|url=http://www.timeoutchicago.com/arts-culture/chicago-media-blog/15360851/keller-to-end-%E2%80%98extraordinary-journey%E2%80%99-as-tribune-critic|title=Keller to end 'extraordinary journey' as Tribune critic|publisher=Time Out Chicago|access-date=January 27, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201182342/http://www.timeoutchicago.com/arts-culture/chicago-media-blog/15360851/keller-to-end-%E2%80%98extraordinary-journey%E2%80%99-as-tribune-critic|archive-date=February 1, 2014}}</ref>

In September 2012, ''Tribune'' education reporter Joel Hood resigned from the paper to become a real estate broker, City Hall reporter Kristen Mack left the paper to become press secretary for Cook County Board President [[Toni Preckwinkle]],<ref>{{cite web |last=Feder |first=Robert |url=https://www.timeout.com/chicago/tv/wls-fm-mornings-go-in-different-direction-without-fogel |title=WLS-FM mornings go in 'different direction' without Fogel |publisher=Timeout.com |date=September 27, 2012 |access-date=April 7, 2015 |archive-date=November 21, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151121131914/http://www.timeout.com/chicago/tv/wls-fm-mornings-go-in-different-direction-without-fogel |url-status=dead }}</ref> and the ''Tribune'' hired Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer [[John J. Kim]] from the ''Chicago Sun-Times''.<ref>{{cite web |last=Feder |first=Robert |url=https://www.timeout.com/chicago/tv/konkol-leaves-sun-times-to-write-for-dnainfo-chicago |title=Konkol leaves Sun-Times to write for DNAInfo Chicago |publisher=Timeout.com |date=September 24, 2012 |access-date=April 7, 2015 |archive-date=April 18, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418142432/http://www.timeout.com/chicago/tv/konkol-leaves-sun-times-to-write-for-dnainfo-chicago |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In October 2012, the ''Tribune''{{'}}s science and medicine reporter, Trine Tsouderos, quit to join a public relations firm.<ref>{{cite web |last=Feder |first=Robert |url=https://www.timeout.com/chicago/tv/former-radio-sex-therapist-finds-her-eden-in-hawaii |title=Former radio sex therapist finds her Eden in Hawaii |publisher=Timeout.com |date=October 15, 2012 |access-date=April 7, 2015 |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402065759/http://www.timeout.com/chicago/tv/former-radio-sex-therapist-finds-her-eden-in-hawaii |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Also in October 2012, the ''Tribune'' announced plans to create a paywall for its website, offering digital-only subscriptions at $14.99 per month, starting on November 1, 2012. Seven-day print subscribers would continue to have unlimited online access at no additional charge.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-xpm-2012-10-18-chi-tribune-sets-pay-wall-at-1499-per-month-20121018-story.html|title=Tribune sets pay wall on some content at $14.99 per month|publisher=Chicago Tribune |date=October 18, 2012 |access-date=June 19, 2020}}</ref>

In February 2013, the ''Tribune'' agreed to pay a total of $660,000 to settle a class-action lawsuit that had been filed against the paper by 46 current and former reporters of its TribLocal local-news reporting group over unpaid overtime wages.<ref name="ChicTrib">{{cite web|url= https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-xpm-2013-03-01-chi-triblocal-reporters-win-660k-in-classaction-against-tribune-co-20130301-story.html |title=TribLocal reporters win $660K in class-action against Tribune Co.|publisher=Chicago Tribune |date=March 1, 2013 |access-date=June 19, 2020}}</ref> The suit had been filed in federal court on behalf of Carolyn Rusin, who had been a TribLocal staff reporter from July 2010 until October 2011.<ref name="ChicTrib"/> The paper's TribLocal unit had been formed in 2007 and uses staff reporters, freelance writers and user-generated content to produce hyperlocal Chicago-area community news.<ref name="ChicTrib"/>

On June 12, 2013, the [[Boston Marathon bombing]] tribute was posted again, which showed the words "We are Chicago" above the names of Boston sports teams.<ref name=apology>{{cite news |title=Chicago Tribune apologizes for hockey-related joke about Boston Marathon bombing |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/chicago-tribune-apologizes-for-hockey-related-joke-about-boston-marathon-bombing/2013/06/14/017c8c36-d52e-11e2-b3a2-3bf5eb37b9d0_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=June 14, 2013 |access-date=June 17, 2013 |archive-date=June 16, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130616121809/http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/chicago-tribune-apologizes-for-hockey-related-joke-about-boston-marathon-bombing/2013/06/14/017c8c36-d52e-11e2-b3a2-3bf5eb37b9d0_story.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> On the graphic on June 12, the word "Bruins" was ripped off and the comment was added, "Yeah, not right now we're not", in a reference to the [[2013 Stanley Cup Finals]], which play the [[Chicago Blackhawks]] against the [[Boston Bruins]].<ref name=apology/> Gerould Kern tweeted later that the ''Tribune'' "still supports [Boston] after all you've been through. We regret any offense. Now let's play hockey."<ref name=apology/>

On November 20, 2013, the ''Tribune'' laid off another 12 or so editorial staffers.<ref name="robertfeder">{{cite web|url=http://www.robertfeder.com/2013/11/20/stop-the-presses-layoffs-hit-tribune-co/|title=Stop the presses: Layoffs hit ''Tribune'' |publisher=Robert Feder |date=November 20, 2013 |access-date=January 27, 2014}}</ref>

On April 6, 2014, the ''Tribune'' increased the [[newsstand]] price of its Sunday/Thanksgiving Day paper by 50 percent to $2.99 for a single copy. The newsrack price increased $0.75, or 42.9%, to $2.50.<ref>{{cite web|last=Feder |first=Robert |url=http://www.robertfeder.com/2014/04/06/sunday-tribune-hikes-price-50/ |title=Sunday Tribune hikes price 50% |publisher=Robertfeder.com |date=April 6, 2014 |access-date=April 7, 2015}}</ref> By January 2017 the price increased again, up $1 or 40% at newsracks, to $3.50. At newsstands it went up also $1, or 33.3%, to $3.99.

On January 28, 2015, metropolitan editor Peter Kendall was named managing editor, replacing Jane Hirt, who had resigned several months earlier. Colin McMahon was named associate editor.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/ct-tribune-managing-editor-0129-biz-20150127-story.html|title=Chicago Tribune names new senior editors|work=Chicago Tribune|author=Channick, Robert|date=January 28, 2015 |access-date=April 7, 2015|archive-date=April 7, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407004322/http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/ct-tribune-managing-editor-0129-biz-20150127-story.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

On February 18, 2016, the Tribune announced the retirement of editor Gerould Kern and the immediate promotion of the paper's editorial page editor, R. Bruce Dold, to be the Tribune's editor.<ref name="auto"/>

On June 9, 2018, the Tribune ended their 93-year stint at Tribune Tower and moved to [[One Prudential Plaza]]. The tower was later converted to condos.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Leaving Tribune Tower: 'The world's most beautiful office building' |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/commentary/ct-perspec-flash-tribune-tower-move-newsroom-building-0603-20180529-story.html |access-date=May 8, 2022 |website=Chicago Tribune |date=June 2, 2018 |language=en |first1=Ron |last1=Grossman }}</ref>

===2020s===
On February 27, 2020, the ''Tribune'' announced that publisher and editor Bruce Dold will leave the ''Tribune'' on April 30, 2020, and would step down immediately as editor in chief. His replacement as editor was Colin McMahon. Also, the paper announced that one of the two managing editors of the paper, Peter Kendall, would leave the ''Tribune'' on February 28, 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |title=New editor for Chicago Tribune named as part of newsroom leadership restructuring|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-chicago-tribune-new-editor-20200227-ok7bs77cl5bhpmcq2ry2pl2dyu-story.html|access-date=July 8, 2021|website=Chicago Tribune|date=February 27, 2020 }}</ref>

In January 2021, the ''Chicago Tribune'' moved out of [[One Prudential Plaza]], and relocated their offices and newsroom to Freedom Center.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chicago Tribune to exit Prudential Plaza, move newsroom to printing facility |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-chicago-tribune-newsroom-prudential-center-20210111-jqeeknsta5e25i22mbmimccwwm-story.html |access-date=May 6, 2022 |website=Chicago Tribune |date=January 11, 2021 |language=en |first1=Ryan |last1=Ori }}</ref>

In May 2021, the paper was purchased by Alden Global Capital.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-chicago-tribune-publishing-alden-shareholders-approve-20210521-2awcpedkfrervox7gfsqpm45ua-story.html|title=Hedge fund Alden's bid to buy Chicago Tribune, other papers approved by Tribune Publishing shareholders|last=Channick|first=Robert|date=May 21, 2021|work=Chicago Tribune|access-date=November 10, 2021}}</ref> Alden immediately launched a round of employee buyouts, reducing the newsroom staff by 25 percent, and the cuts continued. A former reporter said the paper is being "snuffed out, quarter after quarter after quarter".<ref name=Atlantic/> A report in ''[[The Atlantic]]'' said that Alden's business model is simple: "Gut the staff, sell the real estate, jack up subscription prices, and wring as much cash as possible out of the enterprise until eventually enough readers cancel their subscriptions that the paper folds, or is reduced to a desiccated husk of its former self."<ref name=Atlantic>{{cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/11/alden-global-capital-killing-americas-newspapers/620171/|title=A secretive hedge fund is gutting newsrooms|last=Coppins|first=McKay|date=October 14, 2021|work=The Atlantic|access-date=November 10, 2021}}</ref>

Mitch Pugh was named the ''Tribune''{{'}}s executive editor on August 20, 2021, after eight years in the same role at ''The Post and Courier'' in [[Charleston, South Carolina]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-new-editor-mitch-pugh-colin-mcmahon-resigns-20210810-vqx3mmg2z5eahdt5xajau72yqq-story.html | title=Chicago Tribune names new top editor as newsroom leader resigns | website=Chicago Tribune | date=August 10, 2021 }}</ref>

==Editorial==
{{Conservatism US|media}}
[[File:ChicagoTribune.jpg|thumb|left|[[Tribune Tower]], the newspaper's headquarters, opened in [[Chicago]] in 1925.]]
[[File:Chicago-ChicagoTribuneBuilding01.jpg|thumb|left|''Chicago Tribune'' building]]

===Policy===
In a 2007 statement of principles published in the ''Tribune''{{'}}s print and online editions, the paper's editorial board described the newspaper's philosophy, from which is excerpted the following:

<blockquote>The ''Chicago Tribune'' believes in the traditional principles of limited government; maximum individual responsibility; minimum restriction of personal liberty, opportunity and enterprise. It believes in free markets, free will and freedom of expression. These principles, while traditionally conservative, are guidelines and not reflexive dogmas.

The ''Tribune'' brings a Midwestern sensibility to public debate. It is suspicious of untested ideas.

The ''Tribune'' places great emphasis on the integrity of government and the private institutions that play a significant role in society. The newspaper does this in the belief that the people cannot consent to be governed unless they have knowledge of, and faith in, the leaders and operations of government. The ''Tribune'' embraces the diversity of people and perspectives in its community. It is dedicated to the future of the Chicago region.</blockquote>

The ''Tribune'' has remained economically conservative, being widely skeptical of increasing the minimum wage and [[entitlement spending]]. It criticized the George W. Bush administration's record on civil liberties, the environment, and many aspects of its foreign policy, it continued to support his presidency while taking Democrats, such as Illinois Governor [[Rod Blagojevich]] and [[Cook County Board President]] [[Todd Stroger]], to task and calling for their removal from office.

In 2018, the ''Chicago Tribune'' and ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' withdrew their websites from [[European Union]] nations to avoid the purview of the [[General Data Protection Regulation]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/chicago-tribune-los-angeles-times-block-european-users-due-gdpr-n877591 |title=Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times block European users due to GDPR |last=Newcomb |first=Alyssa |date=May 25, 2018 |access-date=June 8, 2018 |work=[[NBC News]] |publisher=[[NBC Universal]]}}</ref>

===Election endorsements===
In 2004, the ''Tribune'' endorsed President [[George W. Bush]] for reelection, a decision consistent with its longstanding support for the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]]. In 2008, it endorsed Democratic candidate and Illinois junior U.S. Senator [[Barack Obama]]—the first time that it had ever endorsed a Democrat for president.<ref>{{cite news|title=Tribune Endorsement: Barack Obama for president|work=Chicago Tribune|date=October 17, 2008|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2008-10-19-chi-tribune-2008-presidential-endorsement-story.html|access-date=June 19, 2020}}</ref> The ''Tribune'' endorsed Obama once again for reelection in 2012,<ref>{{cite news|title= Tribune endorses Obama: Our children's America|publisher=Chicago Tribune|date=October 26, 2012|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2012-10-26-chi-obama-endorsement-chicago-tribune-20121026-story.html|access-date=June 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121027072338/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-obama-endorsement-chicago-tribune-20121026,0,5462618.story|archive-date=October 27, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> and in 2020 would endorse another Democrat, [[Joe Biden]], who had served as vice president under Obama.<ref>[https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-chicago-tribune-biden-endorsement-20200925-lnyxsb5qvrftnjjmj3rnzj33jy-story.html "Editorial: Our Case for Joe Biden over Donald Trump,"] from ''Chicago Tribune'', September 25, 2020</ref> In 2024, it abstained from endorsement. <ref>[https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2024/10/29/chicago-tribune-wont-endorse-president-harris-trump "Chicago Tribune among ,those that won't endorse for President"] from https://www.axios.com, October 29, 2024</ref> 

The ''Tribune'' has occasionally backed candidates of other parties for president. In 1872, it supported [[Horace Greeley]], a former Republican Party newspaper editor,<ref>{{cite news|title=To-morrow|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|page=4|publisher=Chicago Tribune|date=November 4, 1872}}</ref> and in 1912 the paper endorsed [[Theodore Roosevelt]], who ran on the [[Progressive Party (United States, 1912)|Progressive Party]] slate against Republican President [[William Howard Taft]]. In 2016, the Tribune endorsed the [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian Party]] candidate, former New Mexico Governor [[Gary Johnson]], for president, over Republican [[Donald Trump]] and Democrat [[Hillary Clinton]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-gary-johnson-president-endorsement-edit-1002-20160930-story.html|title=A principled option for U.S. president: Endorsing Gary Johnson, Libertarian|website=Chicagotribune.com|access-date=October 15, 2017|archive-date=October 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171016065922/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-gary-johnson-president-endorsement-edit-1002-20160930-story.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Even when it uniformly backed Republicans for president, the ''Tribune'' endorsed some Democrats for lesser offices, including endorsements of [[Bill Foster (Illinois politician)|Bill Foster]], Barack Obama for the [[United States Senate|Senate]] and Democrat [[Melissa Bean]], who defeated [[Philip Crane]], the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]]' longest-serving Republican. Although the ''Tribune'' endorsed [[George Ryan]] in the 1998 Illinois gubernatorial race, the paper subsequently investigated and reported on the scandals surrounding Ryan during his preceding years as Secretary of State. Ryan declined to run for re-election in 2002 and was subsequently indicted, convicted and imprisoned as a result of the scandal.

==Tribune Company==
{{main|Tribune Media}}
The ''Chicago Tribune'' was the founding business unit of [[Tribune Media|Tribune Company]] (since renamed ''Tribune Media''), which included many newspapers and television stations around the country. In Chicago, Tribune Media owned the [[WGN (AM)|WGN]] radio station (720&nbsp;AM) and [[WGN-TV]] (Channel 9). Tribune Company also owned the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''—which displaced the Tribune as the company's largest property—and the [[Chicago Cubs]] [[baseball]] team. The Cubs were sold in 2009;the newspapers spun off in 2014 as Tribune Publishing.

Tribune Company owned the New York ''[[New York Daily News|Daily News]]'' from its 1919 founding until its 1991 sale to British newspaper magnate [[Robert Maxwell]]. The founder of the ''News'' — Capt. [[Joseph Medill Patterson]] — was a grandson of Joseph Medill and a cousin of ''Tribune'' editor Robert McCormick. Both Patterson and McCormick were enthusiasts of [[spelling|simplified spelling]], another hallmark of their papers for many years. In 2008, the Tribune Company sold the Long Island newspaper ''[[Newsday]]''—founded in 1940 by Patterson's daughter (and Medill's great-granddaughter), [[Alicia Patterson]]—to Long Island cable TV company [[Cablevision]].

From 1925 to 2018, the Chicago Tribune was housed in the [[Tribune Tower]] on North [[Michigan Avenue (Chicago)|Michigan Avenue]] on the [[Magnificent Mile]]. The building is [[Gothic architecture|neo-Gothic]] in style, and the design was the winner of an international competition hosted by the Tribune. The Chicago Tribune moved in June 2018 to the Prudential Plaza office complex overlooking Millennium Park after Tribune Media sold Tribune Tower to developers.

===Pulitzer Prizes===
Colonel McCormick prevented the ''Tribune'' for years from participating in the [[Pulitzer Prize]] competition. But it has won 28<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/about/ct-chicago-tribune-pulitzer-prizes-20220509-dlxp3pd5hnb5jfomh5z5bxx7wi-story.html | title=Chicago Tribune's 28 Pulitzer Prizes: A list of all the winners | website=Chicago Tribune | date=May 9, 2022 }}</ref> of the awards over the years, including many for [[Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing|editorial writing]].<ref name="chicagotribune.com">{{cite news |date = May 15, 2006|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/about/custom/company/chi-companypulitzerprizes-htmlstory,0,3933976.htmlstory |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |title=Chicago Tribune Pulitzer Prizes}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Pulitzer Award-winning Journalism |url= http://www.tribpub.com/about/pulitzer-prizes/#tab-1398195802-2-95 |publisher=[[Tribune Publishing]] |access-date=January 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160119143648/http://www.tribpub.com/about/pulitzer-prizes/#tab-1398195802-2-95 |archive-date=January 19, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=A Parade Of Pulitzers |date=June 8, 1997 |first=Patrick T. |last=Reardon |newspaper= Chicago Tribune |access-date=June 19, 2020 |url= https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1997-06-08-9706300098-story.html}}</ref>

The ''Tribune'' won its first post-McCormick Pulitzer in 1961, when [[Carey Orr]] won the award for editorial cartooning. Reporter [[George William Bliss|George Bliss]] won a Pulitzer the following year for reporting, and reporter [[Bill Jones (journalist)|Bill Jones]] another in 1971 for reporting.<ref name="chicagotribune.com"/> A reporting team won the award in 1973, followed by reporter [[William Mullen (journalist)|William Mullen]] and photographer [[Ovie Carter]], who won a Pulitzer for international reporting in 1975. A local reporting team won the award in 1976, and architecture critic [[Paul Gapp]] won a Pulitzer in 1979.<ref name="chicagotribune.com"/> In 2022, Cecilia Reyes, ''Chicago Tribune'', and Madison Hopkins, Better Government Association, won a Pulitzer Prize in local reporting for a piercing examination of the city's long history of failed building- and fire-safety code enforcement, which let scofflaw landlords commit serious violations that resulted in dozens of unnecessary deaths.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Reyes |first1=Cecilia |last2=Hopkins |first2=Madison |date=9 May 2022 |orig-date=11 October 2021 |title=Mayor Lori Lightfoot Put out a List of Building Safety 'Scofflaws.' Only 98 Properties Are on It. |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/investigations/ct-chicago-deadly-fires-investigation-20220509-jdvlwyfrs5axrh24a4fufon35u-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240728044047/https://www.chicagotribune.com/2021/10/11/mayor-lori-lightfoot-put-out-a-list-of-building-safety-scofflaws-only-98-properties-are-on-it/ |archive-date=28 July 2024 |work=Chicago Tribune |access-date=28 July 2024}}</ref>

====Current====
{{Div col|colwidth=15em}}
* [[Amy Dickinson]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/chinews-ask-amy-20130507-staff.html|title=Amy Dickinson|date=May 21, 2023|website=Chicago Tribune}}</ref>
* [[Chris Jones (drama critic)|Chris Jones]]
* [[Clarence Page]]
* [[Michael Phillips (critic)|Michael Phillips]]
* [[Nina Metz]]
* [[Laura Washington]]
{{Div col end}}

====Past====
{{Div col|colwidth=15em}}
* [[William Armstrong (music critic)|William Armstrong]]
* [[Skip Bayless]]
* [[Claudia Cassidy]]
* Steve Chapman
* [[Steve Daley (journalist)|Steve Daley]]
* [[Mike Downey (columnist)|Mike Downey]]
* [[Dahleen Glanton]]
* [[Bob Greene]]
* [[David Haugh]]
* [[Vernon Jarrett]]
* [[Blair Kamin]]
* [[John Kass]]
* [[Hugh Keough]]
* [[Ann Landers]]
* [[Ring Lardner]]
* [[Charles Madigan]]
* [[Steve Neal (historian)|Steve Neal]]
* [[Jack Mabley]]
* [[Mike Royko]]
* [[Mary Schmich]]
* [[Gene Siskel]]
* [[Heidi Stevens]]
* [[Arch Ward]]
* [[Eric Zorn]]
* [[Rex Huppke]]
{{Div col end}}

==Zell ownership and bankruptcy==
In December 2007, the Tribune Company was bought out by Chicago real estate magnate [[Sam Zell]] in an $8.2&nbsp;billion deal. Zell was the company's new chairman.<ref name="APBuyoutCloses20071221">{{cite news | url=http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071221/BUSINESS/712210329/1003/NLETTER01 | title=Tribune buyout, at $8.2 billion, closes in Chicago | work=The News Journal | date=December 21, 2007 | agency=Associated Press | access-date=August 6, 2014 | last=Carpenter | first=Dave | location=Wilmington, Delaware | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071223090732/http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20071221%2FBUSINESS%2F712210329%2F1003%2FNLETTER01 | archive-date=December 23, 2007 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}</ref> A year after going private, following a $124&nbsp;million third-quarter loss, the Tribune Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on December 8, 2008. The company made its filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, citing a debt of $13&nbsp;billion and assets of $7.6&nbsp;billion.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2008/12/08/daily16.html|title=Tribune Co. files for bankruptcy protection |publisher=Business Courier of Cincinnati |date=December 9, 2008|access-date=September 26, 2009}}</ref>

Sam Zell originally planned to turn the company into a private company through the creation of an [[Employee stock ownership plan|ESOP]] (employee stock ownership plan) within the company, but due to poor management that existed prior to his ownership, this did not work out as well as he intended.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.becker-posner-blog.com/2007/04/employee-ownership-through-esopsa-bad-bargain-becker.html|title=Employee Ownership Through ESOPS:A Bad Bargain-BECKER |website=The Becker-Posner Blog |date=April 8, 2007 |access-date=November 15, 2018|archive-date=November 15, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181115153436/https://www.becker-posner-blog.com/2007/04/employee-ownership-through-esopsa-bad-bargain-becker.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

As part of its bankruptcy plan, owner Sam Zell intended to sell the Cubs to reduce debt. This sale has become linked to the corruption charges leading to the arrest of former Illinois Governor [[Rod Blagojevich]] on December 9, 2008. Specifically, Blagojevich was accused of exploiting the paper's financial trouble in an effort to have several editors fired.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Story?id=6426449&page=1|title=Paper Cuts: Did Chicago Tribune Owner Cut Deal to Fire His Editor? |publisher=ABC News |date=December 9, 2008 |first1=Justin |last1=Rood |access-date=September 26, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081212084321/http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=6426449&page=1|archive-date=December 12, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In the bankruptcy, unsecured bondholders of Tribune Co. essentially claimed that ordinary Tribune shareholders participated in a "fraudulent transfer" of wealth.<ref name=wsj>{{cite web|title=Lyondell Suit a Potential Threat for Private Equity|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/cfo/2011/05/03/lyondell-suit-a-potential-threat-for-private-equity/|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|date=May 3, 2011|access-date=May 6, 2013|quote=The Lyondell suit alleges that the shareholders participated in a "fraudulent transfer" of wealth from the company and its creditors by knowingly burdening it with debt it couldn't handle, pushing it into bankruptcy less than a year after the close of the buyout... Unsecured bondholders of Tribune Co., the media conglomerate still in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, are making essentially the same claim in their high-profile case.|archive-date=October 13, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131013103231/http://blogs.wsj.com/cfo/2011/05/03/lyondell-suit-a-potential-threat-for-private-equity/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The law firm Brown Rudnick, representing the Aurelius group of junior creditors, filed fraudulent transfer claims and fraud claims against 33,000 to 35,000 stockholders who bought Tribune stock.<ref name="haunt">{{cite web | url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-xpm-2011-11-27-ct-biz-1127-tribune-stockholders-this-one-20111127-story.html | title=Tribune Co. bankruptcy case haunting former shareholders | work=Chicago Tribune | date=November 27, 2011 | access-date=June 19, 2020| last1=Oneal | first1=Michael | last2=Sachdev | first2=Ameet}}</ref> Prolonged due to these claims against former officers, directors, and every former stockholder of the Chicago Tribune Company,<ref name=haunt /><ref name=ch11>{{cite web|title=Chicago Tribune Bankruptcy Update|url=http://www.bankruptcylawreview.com/blog/chicago-tribune-bankruptcy-update|work=Bankruptcy Law Review|access-date=May 6, 2013|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130611114019/http://www.bankruptcylawreview.com/blog/chicago-tribune-bankruptcy-update|archive-date=June 11, 2013}}</ref> the Tribune's bankruptcy-related legal and professional fees of $500&nbsp;million were more than twice the usual amount for that size of company.<ref name="Trib20121231">{{cite news|last1=Channick|first1=Robert|title=Tribune Co. emerges from bankruptcy|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-xpm-2012-12-31-chi-a-new-era-dawning-for-tribune-co-20121230-story.html|access-date=June 19, 2020|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=December 31, 2012}}</ref>

The Tribune Co. emerged from bankruptcy in January 2013, partially owned by private equity firms which had speculated on its distressed debt. The reorganized company's plan included selling off many of its assets.<ref name="Trib20121231"/>

==Tribune Publishing divestment==
[[tronc|Tribune Publishing]], owning the ''Chicago Tribune'', ''Los Angeles Times'', and eight other newspapers, was spun off as a separate publicly traded company in August 2014. The parent Tribune Company was renamed [[Tribune Media]].<ref name="Trib20140805"/> Tribune Publishing started life with a $350 million loan, $275 million of which was paid as a dividend to Tribune Media. The publishing company was also due to lease its office space from Tribune Media for $30 million per year through 2017.<ref name="Trib20140805">{{cite news | url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-tribune-spinoff-complete-0805-biz-20140805-story.html | title=Spun-off Tribune Publishing faces future on its own | work=Chicago Tribune | date=August 5, 2014 | access-date=August 5, 2014 | last=Channick | first=Robert | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140805094602/http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-tribune-spinoff-complete-0805-biz-20140805-story.html | archive-date=August 5, 2014 | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Trib20140612">{{cite news | url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-tribune-publishing-finances-20140612-story.html | title=Tribune Publishing to carry $350 million in debt in spinoff | work=Chicago Tribune | date=June 12, 2014 | access-date=August 5, 2014 | last=Channick | first=Robert | archive-date=August 8, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808055129/http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-tribune-publishing-finances-20140612-story.html | url-status=dead }}</ref>

Spinning off Tribune Publishing avoided the capital gains taxes that would accrue from selling those assets. The shares in Tribune Publishing were given tax-free to stakeholders in Tribune Media, the largest shareholder was Oaktree Capital Management with 18.5%.<ref name="Trib20140612" /> Tribune Media, retaining the non-newspaper broadcasting, entertainment, real estate, and other investments, also sold off some of the non-newspaper properties.<ref name="Trib20140805" />

On February 7, 2018, Tribune Publishing Company agreed to sell the ''Los Angeles Times'' to billionaire biotech investor Patrick Soon-Shiong. The purchase, made through Soon-Shiong's Nant Capital investment fund, was valued at $500 million, along with the assumption of $90 million in pension liabilities. The deal, which also included the ''[[The San Diego Union-Tribune|San Diego Union-Tribune]]'' and other assets, was finalized on June 16, 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |last2= |last3= |last4= |date=2018-06-16 |title=Historic sale of the L.A. Times to billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong to close on Monday |url=https://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-patrick-soon-shiong-latimes-sold-20180616-story.html |access-date=2025-01-19 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Chicago|Illinois|Journalism}}
* [[Chicago Tribune Syndicate]]
* [[Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball|''Chicago Tribune'' Silver Basketball]]
* [[Chicago Tribune Silver Football|''Chicago Tribune'' Silver Football]]
{{clear}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite thesis |last1=Cole |first1=Bruce M. |year=1948 |title=The Chicago Press and the Know Nothings 1850–1856 |type=MA |publisher=University of Chicago |url=https://catalog.lib.uchicago.edu/vufind/Record/4424645 |oclc=47084261}} At [https://books.google.com/books?id=_Knrb39PnNEC&q=oclc47084261 Google Books].
* {{Cite journal|last1=Keefe|first1=Thomas M.|title=Chicago's Flirtation with Political Nativism|journal=Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia|volume=82|pages=131–158|year=1971}}
* {{Cite journal|last1=Keefe|first1=Thomas M.|title=The Catholic Issue in the ''Chicago Tribune'' Before the Civil War|journal=Mid-America|volume=57|issue=4|pages=227–245|publisher=Loyola University|year=1975}}
* Mayer, Gordon (2006). [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00947679.2006.12062709 "Party Rags? Politics and the News Business in Chicago's Party Press, 1831–71"] {{subscription required}}. ''Journalism History'' 32#3: 138–146. {{doi|10.1080/00947679.2006.12062709}}.
* {{cite book|last=McKinney|first=Megan|title=The Magnificent Medills: America's Royal Family of Journalism During a Century of Turbulent Splendor|publisher=Harper Collins|year=2011}}
* {{cite book|last=Smith|first=Richard Norton|title=The Colonel: The Life and Legend of Robert R. McCormick, 1880–1955|year=2003|authorlink=Richard Norton Smith}}
* {{Cite book|last=Wendt|given=Lloyd|title=Chicago Tribune: The Rise of a Great American Newspaper|location=Chicago|publisher=Rand McNally|year=1979|isbn=0-528-81826-0|url=https://archive.org/details/chicagotribuneri00wend}}
* Ziv, Nina (2002). [https://web.archive.org/web/20100613082453/http://www.ite.poly.edu/trilbune_b_113000.pdf "The Chicagotribune.com: Creating a Newspaper for the New Economy"]. ''Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases''.

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* {{LCCN8|sn83045111|chronicling=yes}}
* {{Official website}}
* [http://www.tribune.com/ Tribune Media website]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160409081451/http://www.ketupa.net/tribune.htm Tribune Group Overview] at Ketupa
* [http://chicagotribune.newspapers.com ''Chicago Tribune'' Archives (1849–present)]
* [https://archive.org/details/pub_chicago-daily-tribune?sort=-date ''Chicago Daily Tribune''] at the [[Internet Archive]]
* [https://guides.library.illinois.edu/c.php?g=1000730&p=7254591 ''Chicago Tribune''] at the [[Illinois Newspaper Project]]
* [https://dl.mospace.umsystem.edu/mu/islandora/object/mu%3A419140 John Tinney McCutcheon Editorial Cartoon Collection] at the [[University of Missouri]]
* [https://findingaids.lib.msu.edu/repositories/4/resources/6066 Janet A. Ginsburg ''Chicago Tribune'' newspaper collection] at [[Michigan State University]]

{{Tribune Publishing}}
{{Chicago}}
{{White House James S. Brady Press Briefing Room seating chart}}
{{PulitzerPrize Explanatory Reporting}}
{{PulitzerPrize Investigative Reporting}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Chicago Tribune| ]]
[[Category:1847 establishments in Illinois]]
[[Category:Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2008]]
[[Category:Daily newspapers published in the United States]]
[[Category:Newspapers established in 1847]]
[[Category:Newspapers published in Chicago]]
[[Category:Old Right (United States)]]
[[Category:Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism winners]]
[[Category:Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting winners]]
[[Category:Pulitzer Prize–winning newspapers]]
[[Category:Tribune Publishing]]