The Miller Chop

Rafael A. Olmeda and Juan Ortega, or one of them anyway, had one of those rare ideas for a perfect lede paragraph. It was for a bank robbery story where the dye pack exploded but the bandit got away. Here's the lede:

DEERFIELD BEACH - The man who robbed a bank here Wednesday might have thought he was about to make a clean getaway. He was half right.

Or that's what the lede should have been. It's freaking beautiful, with a bit of Miller chop to it. [Photo of Gene Miller, right] There's an intrinsic question in it; nobody is going to stop reading at that point. But here's what actually ran in the newspaper:

DEERFIELD BEACH - The man who robbed the Washington Mutual branch at 1100 E. Hillsboro Blvd. at midday Wednesday may have thought he was about to make a clean getaway. He was half right.

Not only is the name of the bank there to break any clean flow, but also the address in all it's numeric and abbreviated clunkiness. The beauty is still there at the end, but it's like filet mignon drowned in cheap steak sauce. It's hard to get to and it doesn't taste as good as it should. [Click for MORE]

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Tribune Co. Suffers Attack of A.D.D.

Retooled Tribune apparently won't
look like this

From Crain's Chicago Business
Contrary to a prototype leaked to E&P, the Chicago Tribune won't splash its "Trib" nickname atop the front page, reports Ann Saphir. She's told that more recent prototypes show the paper using the full name in its traditional gothic font but with "Chicago" and "Tribune" stacked on top of one another, creating a box that can be moved depending on the page's design needs. The new look debuts Sept. 29. [Click for MORE]

From Crain's Chicago Business

EARLIER: A drastically different look — even a new name — could be in store for the Chicago Tribune if a prototype making the rounds online is any indication.

Copies of the redesign sample obtained by industry publication Editor & Publisher show the banner atop Page 1 with the paper's long-time nickname, the Trib, front and center.

The E&P copy is believed to be one of many design changes that has been under consideration.

Tribune Co. Chief Operating Officer Randy Michaels ordered redesigns of all the Chicago-based media company's papers — along with cuts in editorial output and staff — in a bid to trim costs as circulations decline and advertising revenues plummet. He’s stated the company goal to cut editorial content to 50% of the typical paper, down from about 66% today, allowing Tribune to eliminate a collective 500 pages weekly.

A Tribune Co. spokesman told Editor & Publisher the prototype should be considered “a work in progress” and refused to comment further on redesign efforts ahead of the retooled paper’s debut, expected by the end of September. [Click for MORE]

But the other Tribune papers do look like this


The Baltimore Sun has launched it's own redesign with a splash. Read all about it HERE. Old design is lower left.

Number 3 to redesign was the Morning Call in Allentown, Pa. The old page is left. Read more about it HERE.



The South Florida Sun-Sentinel was the second paper to redesign. Read all about it HERE.

The Orlando Sentinel suffered the first redesign, right. Sphere: Related Content

The Tribune Has a Sense of Humor -- Who Knew?

The winner of the Sun-Times' video contest about Wrigley Field naming rights is... a Chicago Tribune intern. See how she did it -- with a little help from her friends -- and watch the video.

We're Not Gonna Change It'

Here are the lyrics to "We're Not Gonna Change It" (sung to the tune of Twisted Sister's 1984 hit "We're Not Gonna Take It"):

We're not gonna change it! No! We'll never rename it! We will always call it Wrigley Field!
It's where we do our boozin' Where our team does its losin' Now some rich dude, he wants a change.
He'll name it after Old Style Or drugs for ills erectile Viagra Field sounds pretty strange.
We're not gonna change it! Zell! Don't try to rename it! It will always be OUR Wrigley Field!
Sam Zell may have the power And own the Tribune Tower Don't have the North Side's pride destroyed!
Nicorette Gum Park's a loser Don't give our name to Hooters Or products made for hemorrhoids!
Whoa-oh-oh Whoa-oh-oh We're right (yeah) You'll see (yeah) The Cubs have sucked (what?) For a century! (what?!?)
We're not gonna change it! No! We'll never rename it! We will always call it Wrigley Field!
We're not gonna change it! (@#$% NO!) we won't let Zell change it! He'll just have to stick with Wrigley Field!
We're not gonna change it! No! We'll never rename it! We will always call it Wrigley Field!
(REPEAT AND FADE OUT)

> See the runner-up videos HERE

MORE TRIBUNE NEWS

> Tribune reports fourth-quarter loss of $78.8 million
> Tribune puts WSFL-TV and Sun-Sentinel under one roof
> Tribune to merge paper, TV operations in South Florida

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