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Pompei quits Tribune

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by tmr, Aug 1, 2013.

  1. tmr

    tmr Member

    Big hole for the paper as Bears camp opens. It's not like that's a big deal in Chicago...

    http://www.thebiglead.com/index.php/2013/08/01/dan-pompei-chicago-tribune-columnist-reportedly-quits-over-freelance-issue/
     
  2. I Should Coco

    I Should Coco Well-Known Member

    He's a good writer who'll be missed by Tribune subscribers. Hopefully he'll land a good gig somewhere else.

    Meanwhile, about that freeze on freelance work ... as long as it's not for a competing company, and he's available when needed for his beat, why is it the Trib's business?

    On a much smaller scale, I've used freelance and stringing gigs to make a few bucks quite a bit over the past 20 years. I'd be pissed, too.
     
  3. da man

    da man Well-Known Member

    There's a line about Pompei and scorched earth in here somewhere, but I'm too tired to go searching for it.
     
  4. spaceman

    spaceman Active Member

    I guess the Trib is witnessing the last days of Pompei.
     
  5. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    With all the bullshit that's been going on with Tribune the past few years, they've got some nerve telling their employees what they can't do to earn a living.
     
  6. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Considering who the SE is at the Tribune, I'm going to 100 percent side with Pompei on this one.
     
  7. Fran Curci

    Fran Curci Well-Known Member

    sports editor's credentials are not impressive but, in fairness, this decision is probably way above his pay grade.
     
  8. Joe Williams

    Joe Williams Well-Known Member

    So how long before Pompei surfaces somewhere else, probably a Web site, covering the NFL? Can't imagine anyone making such a sudden, principled move without a ready place to land -- or serious inheritance.
     
  9. H.L. Mencken

    H.L. Mencken Member

    The Tribune Co. is exceptional at cutting off its nose to spite its face. This has nothing to do with the SE. It is a company-wide policy, from talking to friends. They make you sign it as part of the new ethics agreement: No outside work.
     
  10. Joe Williams

    Joe Williams Well-Known Member

    3

    If only they had a provision in that ethics agreement about no political biases bleeding into news content. Most newspapers would benefit more from that than from dictating what workers could do in terms of moonlighting.
     
  11. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    Does the company wide policy extend to executives being outside directors of other corporations? Don't all bother to answer at once.
     
  12. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    I worked at a paper that tried to implement a policy like this. Within three months, the NBA writer and the MLB writer left, and there was another writer there who started freelancing under a pen name. Everybody in sports knew about it, but as long as the ME didn't know, nobody really cared. The policy lasted about six months total and was reversed when the movie critic and one of the columnists threatened to leave.
     
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