Chicago - A message from the station manager

The [Wednesday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

“The Obama administration has long called itself the most transparent administration in history. But newly released Department of Justice documents show that the White House has actually worked aggressively behind the scenes to scuttle congressional reforms designed to give the public better access to information possessed by the federal government,” Vice reports.
“The documents were obtained by the Freedom of the Press Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports journalism in the public interest, which in turn shared them exclusively with VICE News. They were obtained using the Freedom of Information Act – the same law Congress was attempting to reform. The group sued the DOJ last December after its FOIA requests went unanswered for more than a year.
“The documents confirm longstanding suspicions about the administration’s meddling, and lay bare for the first time how it worked to undermine FOIA reform bills that received overwhelming bipartisan support and were unanimously passed by both the House and Senate in 2014 – yet were never put up for a final vote.”


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This was wholly Obama’s call.
“The bill unanimously passed by a vote of 410-0, one of the few pieces of legislation during President Barack Obama’s tenure to receive bipartisan support.”
410-0!
Not a single legislator opposed the measure. Not a single one! Not even the most awful, horrible, stupid bastard there. Not a one.
And then Obama, who is already going down in history as one of the worst presidents for journalists ever.
“[T]he administration ‘strongly opposed passage’ of the House bill and opposed nearly every provision that would have made it easier for journalists, historians, and the public to access government records.”
Drone Nation
“The Pentagon has deployed drones to spy over U.S. territory for non-military missions over the past decade,” USA Today reports.
“The report by a Pentagon inspector general, [was] made public under a Freedom of Information Act request.”
Trib Chatter
“So much for bolstering the separation of Tribune Publishing and rival Chicago Sun-Times parent Wrapports,” Lynne Mark writes for Crain’s.
“As of this week, the newspaper companies are both part of a new digital initiative that relies on Wrapports technology subsidiary Aggrego for content-sharing arrangement covering sports, entertainment and politics, according to an Aggrego source familiar with the effort. McClatchy is also part of the venture, the source said.”
In case you’re unfamiliar with Aggrego, it resides in the lower circles of content hell.
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Click through to Crain’s for the details on the partnership. I’ll just highlight here my favorite part of Marek’s article:

Tribune Publishing’s new owner and non-executive chairman, Michael Ferro, said last week that he was donating his stake in Wrapports to a charitable trust to avoid any conflicts of interest and to keep it “out of my control.” He declined to provide any details about the charitable trust that is receiving his majority stake in an interview at the time with the Chicago Tribune.
Wrapports is a private company majority owned by Ferro while Tribune Publishing is a publicly-traded company.
A spokeswoman for Tribune Publishing referred questions on the new arrangement to “the Sun-Times,” without further explanation. “I would direct your inquiry to a rep at the Sun-Times for more details on this,” said Tribune Publishing Director of Corporate Communications Dana Meyer.
Newly appointed Chicago Tribune Publisher and Editor Bruce Dold didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Tim Landon, CEO of Sun Times Network, which is also an Aggrego concern, didn’t return calls seeking comment.
Sun-Times Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Jim Kirk would only acknowledge that Aggrego continues to be linked to his paper’s website, which was revamped last week.
Wrapports Chairman John Canning didn’t immediately have a comment . . . McClatchy Chief Financial Officer Elaine Lintecum declined to comment on any new arrangement with Aggrego.

That’s six media bosses refusing to comment – seven if you include Ferro’s refusal to detail his purported charitable giving. Is that a record for one story?
I love too how the Tribune Publishing spokesperson is sending the reporter to the Sun-Times.
It’s only going to get worse.
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About Mary Schmich’s Rolodex
Millennials are dumb and lazy even though she’s the one out of ideas.
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Plus: They don’t need no stinkin’ Rolodexes. #GreatestGeneration


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Sex With Strangers
In Local Book Notes. Plus: Chicago’s Trauma Queen, White Rabbit Welles & The No Longer Forgotten Novel.
World Surf Tour Opening On Australia’s Gold Coast As Bodhi Waits For His Set
The planet’s best surfers together again.
No. 1 Triton Gets No. 1 Seed In Juco Dance
Draws MCC-Penn Valley in opener.
Why Is It So Difficult To Rein In Wall Street?
Answer: Bankers’ bullshit.
Local Music Notebook: Random Notes!
Featuring: Night Ranger, Typesetter, UFO, Ana Popovic, The Kickback, Beach House, Alice Cooper, Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, the Smith Westerns, and Cullen Omori.
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BeachBook

Posted by The Beachwood Reporter on Tuesday, March 8, 2016

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“As a 29-year-old gay man, I spent the better part of two decades agonizing over that question and finally, when I was…

Posted by The Beachwood Reporter on Tuesday, March 8, 2016

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Motive? Or just for kicks?

Posted by The Beachwood Reporter on Tuesday, March 8, 2016

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Posted by The Beachwood Reporter on Tuesday, March 8, 2016

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Posted by The Beachwood Reporter on Wednesday, March 9, 2016

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Posted by The Beachwood Reporter on Wednesday, March 9, 2016

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Posted by The Beachwood Reporter on Wednesday, March 9, 2016

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Posted by The Beachwood Reporter on Wednesday, March 9, 2016

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Posted by The Beachwood Reporter on Wednesday, March 9, 2016

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TweetWood
A sampling.


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The Beachwood Tip Line: Trade war.

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Posted on March 9, 2016