Chicago - A message from the station manager

The [Tuesday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

Let’s catch up.
1. Governor Madigan Introduces Budget Bill, Rebukes Minority Leader Rauner.


2. The story of Lamonte Cathey, the kid who is “eating the Cook County Jail,” went viral over the weekend. Read it and weep.
3. Lamonte Cathey vs. Ryan LeVin.
4. Police scanner stenography is not journalism. It is information that is raw, unvetted, usually inaccurate and always without context.
5. Media CEOs Are The Highest-Paid American Executives.
See also:

At least one small slice of the American public looks forward to the non-stop, sleazy political advertisements set to inundate viewers during the 2016 elections: media executives and their investors.
Peter Liguori, the chief executive of Tribune Company, said earlier this month that the next presidential campaign presents “enormous opportunity” for advertising sales. Speaking at a conference hosted by J.P. Morgan Chase, Liguori, whose company owns television stations, referenced Super PAC spending as a key factor for why he thinks Tribune Co. political advertising revenue will rocket from $115 million in 2012 to about $200 million for the 2016 campaign cycle.
Vince Sadusky, the chief executive of Media General, the parent company of 71 television stations across the country, told investors in February that his company is positioned to benefit from unlimited campaign spending, referencing decisions by the Supreme Court. “We are really looking forward to the 2016 elections with spending on the presidential race alone estimated to surpass $5 billion,” Sadusky said, according to a transcript of his remarks.
In 2012, Les Moonves, president and chief executive of CBS, memorably said, “Super PACs may be bad for America, but they’re very good for CBS.”

6. CPS Is A Rogue Nation.
“Despite a push this week by North Side principals, elected officials and others against a proposal to relocate the Noble Street Academy to Uptown, CPS is recommending that the Board of Education approve the move anyway,” Catalyst reports.
“And much to the dismay of activists, the district also wants the board to OK a proposal from Rowe Elementary charter school to expand to the site once occupied by Peabody Elementary. In the wake of the historic 2013 school closings in Chicago, CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett had repeatedly promised to keep charter schools out of closed schools.”
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To wit:


And:


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And yet, the Tribune pines for Mussolini – and not for the first time!
If the Tribune wants to break the teachers’ union, it should just say so. Otherwise, Rahm Emanuel has unfettered power over CPS. Nobody is standing in his way. The board of education is more rubber stampy than even the city council. Just what dictatorial powers are not in his possession, or the possession of his board and administration?
Plus, do you really want to invoke Mussolini? My God.
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Or do you?
“All teachers in schools and universities had to swear an oath to defend the fascist regime. Newspaper editors were all personally chosen by Mussolini and no one who did not possess a certificate of approval from the fascist party could practice journalism. These certificates were issued in secret; Mussolini thus skillfully created the illusion of a ‘free press.’ The trade unions were also deprived of any independence and were integrated into what was called the ‘corporative’ system. The aim (never completely achieved), inspired by medieval guilds, was to place all Italians in various professional organizations or corporations, all under clandestine governmental control.”
And:
“Mussolini argued that Italy was right to follow an imperialist policy in Africa because all black people were ‘inferior’ to whites.”
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Plus:


The Tribune editorial board really needs to lay off the Red Bull.
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Bonus from the Tribune, 1931:
Mussolini Puts Fascist Grip On Rural Schools | Gives State Full Control Of Youth.
7. Heads Would’ve Rolled Under Mussolini.
“Chicago Public Schools somehow forgot about 22 schools, including a selective enrollment high school, in its estimate to hire Aramark to manage school janitors,” the Sun-Times reports.
“That mistake – in all, the district underestimated by nearly 3.2 million square feet the amount of space Aramark would have to clean – cost the district an additional $7 million in the controversial contract.
Last month, when the oversight came to light, CPS wouldn’t say how many facilities had been skipped, but instead advised filing a Freedom of Information Act request for the details.”
A) The Sun-Times providing a link! Yay!
B) Wasn’t Mussolini a neatnik? No way he would’ve outsourced janitorial duties!
C) CPS wouldn’t say how many facilities weren’t counted, instead making reporter Lauren FitzPatrick file a FOIA. Think about that: CPS could’ve just said, “Hey, it was 22 schools. Here’s what happened. We made a mistake. It’s embarrassing. And we’re sorry.” But no.
Here’s an idea for CPS: If you want to establish a culture of accountability, start with yourselves.
And that means a culture of honesty, too.
Because nothing CPS says – including the time of day – can be trusted.
To wit:


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“Despite being asked repeatedly, [spokesman Bill] McCaffrey refused to say how entire buildings got overlooked. Nor would he say who was at fault or how the district miscounted its space so badly.”
Here’s the funny thing: If CPS would just come clean (no pun intended) about these things it would actually build trust. Instead, we can only suspect the worst – and the story sticks around like the stink of rotten eggs.

“CPS regrets this error and is committed to ensuring this mistake cannot be repeated again in the future,” McCaffrey said.

If you want to know more, file a FOIA!
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Bill McCaffrey, you are Today’s Worst Person In Chicago.
8. Why The CIA Destroyed ‘Interrogation’ Tapes.

“I was told, if those videotapes had ever been seen, the reaction around the world would not have been survivable,” Jane Mayer, investigative journalist for The New Yorker, says on the new FRONTLINE documentary ‘Secrets, Politics and Torture.’

America can’t stand the light of day.
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Know Your Rights!
Looking at you, Englewood and Lawndale.
Checking In On Summer Pieces
Summer beach bag essentials!
Lorde vs. Winger
In The Cub Factor.
Paulie vs. Us
In The White Sox Report.
The Problem With American Pharoah
In TrackNotes.
The Weekend In Chicago Rock
Featuring: In Flames, Sepultura, Kinky, Through My Eyes, Torres, The Mud Howlers, Butch Walker, Chevelle, Jeff Beck, TLC, Judas Priest, Saxon, Rick Derringer, and Edgar Winter.
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BeachBook
* Hedge Funds Buy Swaths Of Foreclosed Subprimes, Force Up Rents, Float Rent-Bonds.
Also: Poor people are poor because they lack character.
* Goldman Sachs Rakes In Millions In Lucas Oil Stadium Deal.
Also: Public treasuries hurting because of public-sector mismanagement.
* Critique: Kia Hamster Commercial.
It’s about time; blacks as rodents?
* FBI Spies On Tar Sands Opponents Under Banner Of ‘National Security.’
Paging Mussolini!
* NYT Summer Reading List Finally Achieves 100 Percent Whiteness.
Worse: Editors in charge didn’t notice – or didn’t care.
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TweetWood
A sampling.


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The Beachwood Tip Line: Cooler if you did.

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Posted on May 26, 2015