More Chicago Tribune changes

[steveu]

Didn't see this posted here:

Paul Sullivan off Cubs beat. Probably couldn't stomach Ricketts desecrating Wrigley Field with a jumbotron... ;D Still with paper from what I hear.

Mark Gonzales shifting from Sox beat to cover Chicago Cubs.

Colleen Kane taking over White Sox beat.

Anyone care to shed some light?

 

[boundforboston]

It appears Sullivan is moving to the baseball writer role Dave Van Dyck left, according to this site: http://www.chicagonow.com/chicago-sports-media-watch/2013/07/paul-sullivan-tribune-982/. It also says Vaughn McLure will cover Illinois football and Bears, while Shannon Ryan is doing NIU football and Illinois basketball.

McLure had been covering just the Bears, Ryan Illinois football and copy editor Chris Hine Illinois basketball (I think). I guess McLure gets the added beat of Illinois football because they wanted Ryan to cover NIU, which didn't seem to have a beat writer previously.

 

[Cousin Jeffrey]

It's actually McClure, but that blogger spelled it wrong. I think Sullivan is doing takeouts. Van Dyck did mostly weekend duties, though some bigger takes too. Lot of changes there.

 

[Mira]

Shannon Ryan has covered Illinois basketball for a bit of time, so that's not a new beat for her. She does a terrific job covering Illini. But Northwestern football might be a new assignment.

 

[wicked]

It also says Vaughn McLure will cover Illinois football and Bears

1. That travel schedule's gonna suck.

2. Do they only staff Illini games? Because that's the only way I could see him being able to do both -- and even then it's a stretch.

 

[tmr]

Sully did a funny send-off piece. He could really write a book about his years on the Cubs beat, not to mention his time as Royko's legman.

http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-76919653/

 

[Dick Whitman]

I had heard that McClure is headed to the Bulls beat along with K.C. Johnson - maybe they want to beef that up with Derrick Rose coming back and interest increasing.

 

[Joe Williams]

Find it hard to believe the Tribune will use McClure for anything more than spot duty on the Bulls. Johnson is a heavy lifter in terms of work load and NBA interest in Chicago doesn't rank high enough to devote two people to the beat.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Find it hard to believe the Tribune will use McClure for anything more than spot duty on the Bulls. Johnson is a heavy lifter in terms of work load and NBA interest in Chicago doesn't rank high enough to devote two people to the beat.

I could see them moving someone to what would amount to a one-year Derrick Rose beat, no?

 

[Mizzougrad96]

It also says Vaughn McLure will cover Illinois football and Bears

1. That travel schedule's gonna suck.

2. Do they only staff Illini games? Because that's the only way I could see him being able to do both -- and even then it's a stretch.

When I was covering colleges, I frequently would cover the college game on Saturday and the NFL game on Sunday. Sometimes it wasn't too bad, but there were the occasional, cover a late college game on Saturday night and then fly out at 6 am the next morning to cover a NFL game. Nothing like landing at 11 and then racing to the stadium for a 1 p.m. start. If it was an early game, sometimes I would fly home that night.

 

[da man]

It also says Vaughn McLure will cover Illinois football and Bears

1. That travel schedule's gonna suck.

2. Do they only staff Illini games? Because that's the only way I could see him being able to do both -- and even then it's a stretch.

When I was covering colleges, I frequently would cover the college game on Saturday and the NFL game on Sunday. Sometimes it wasn't too bad, but there were the occasional, cover a late college game on Saturday night and then fly out at 6 am the next morning to cover a NFL game. Nothing like landing at 11 and then racing to the stadium for a 1 p.m. start. If it was an early game, sometimes I would fly home that night.

That shouldn't happen at a major market outlet like the Chicago Tribune.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

It also says Vaughn McLure will cover Illinois football and Bears

1. That travel schedule's gonna suck.

2. Do they only staff Illini games? Because that's the only way I could see him being able to do both -- and even then it's a stretch.

When I was covering colleges, I frequently would cover the college game on Saturday and the NFL game on Sunday. Sometimes it wasn't too bad, but there were the occasional, cover a late college game on Saturday night and then fly out at 6 am the next morning to cover a NFL game. Nothing like landing at 11 and then racing to the stadium for a 1 p.m. start. If it was an early game, sometimes I would fly home that night.

That shouldn't happen at a major market outlet like the Chicago Tribune.

It happens all the time. Nothing like catching a 6 a.m. flight, landing at 11, getting to the stadium by 12 for a 1 p.m. start and then writing the follow from the college game as you watch the NFL game, then write a pair of sidebars and fly home... Columnists do it all the time, but obviously they don't have to worry about getting injury updates from Saturday's game as you're helping cover a game on Sunday.

I did it on a semi-regular basis for the first seven years of my career. The worst was covering a game at Washington on Saturday, taking a red eye to Chicago, landing at 5 or so and then catching a flight to Buffalo. It usually wasn't anything quite that crazy.

 

[Joe Williams]

Find it hard to believe the Tribune will use McClure for anything more than spot duty on the Bulls. Johnson is a heavy lifter in terms of work load and NBA interest in Chicago doesn't rank high enough to devote two people to the beat.

I could see them moving someone to what would amount to a one-year Derrick Rose beat, no?

Long shot, in my view. The Rose story isn't going to have many facets once he's back on the court and he's certainly not going to fill up notebooks or camcorders with quotes. Occasional air-drop work by a second writer, maybe. But the Bulls' primary storyline is going to be about Rose, so one good beat person could handle it. And Johnson is certainly that.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Yeah, Rose coming back isn't going to make a paper feel the need to beef up its coverage the way it would when LeBron went to Miami or when Jordan went to the Wizards...

 

[da man]

It also says Vaughn McLure will cover Illinois football and Bears

1. That travel schedule's gonna suck.

2. Do they only staff Illini games? Because that's the only way I could see him being able to do both -- and even then it's a stretch.

When I was covering colleges, I frequently would cover the college game on Saturday and the NFL game on Sunday. Sometimes it wasn't too bad, but there were the occasional, cover a late college game on Saturday night and then fly out at 6 am the next morning to cover a NFL game. Nothing like landing at 11 and then racing to the stadium for a 1 p.m. start. If it was an early game, sometimes I would fly home that night.

That shouldn't happen at a major market outlet like the Chicago Tribune.

It happens all the time. Nothing like catching a 6 a.m. flight, landing at 11, getting to the stadium by 12 for a 1 p.m. start and then writing the follow from the college game as you watch the NFL game, then write a pair of sidebars and fly home... Columnists do it all the time, but obviously they don't have to worry about getting injury updates from Saturday's game as you're helping cover a game on Sunday.

I did it on a semi-regular basis for the first seven years of my career. The worst was covering a game at Washington on Saturday, taking a red eye to Chicago, landing at 5 or so and then catching a flight to Buffalo. It usually wasn't anything quite that crazy.

That doesn't happen all the time. Not at a paper that large in a market that large on a beat that important.

Really? A Bears beat writer for the Chicago Tribune who's also the Illinois football beat writer? That's ridiculous.

 

[black dude with pompano]

It also says Vaughn McLure will cover Illinois football and Bears

1. That travel schedule's gonna suck.

2. Do they only staff Illini games? Because that's the only way I could see him being able to do both -- and even then it's a stretch.

When I was covering colleges, I frequently would cover the college game on Saturday and the NFL game on Sunday. Sometimes it wasn't too bad, but there were the occasional, cover a late college game on Saturday night and then fly out at 6 am the next morning to cover a NFL game. Nothing like landing at 11 and then racing to the stadium for a 1 p.m. start. If it was an early game, sometimes I would fly home that night.

That shouldn't happen at a major market outlet like the Chicago Tribune.

It happens all the time. Nothing like catching a 6 a.m. flight, landing at 11, getting to the stadium by 12 for a 1 p.m. start and then writing the follow from the college game as you watch the NFL game, then write a pair of sidebars and fly home... Columnists do it all the time, but obviously they don't have to worry about getting injury updates from Saturday's game as you're helping cover a game on Sunday.

I did it on a semi-regular basis for the first seven years of my career. The worst was covering a game at Washington on Saturday, taking a red eye to Chicago, landing at 5 or so and then catching a flight to Buffalo. It usually wasn't anything quite that crazy.

That doesn't happen all the time. Not at a paper that large in a market that large on a beat that important.

Really? A Bears beat writer for the Chicago Tribune who's also the Illinois football beat writer? That's ridiculous.

Agreed. This is unheard of for a major metro newspaper (in good economic times or bad, past or present).

Now, it's one thing to pitch in on coverage of an Illinois game and then do a Bears game the next day. Sure, that's fine. But to say one is the Bears beat writer AND the Illinois football beat writer for the Chicago Tribune? Sorry, don't buy it.

 

[Fran Curci]

"NBA interest in Chicago doesn't rank high enough to devote two people to the beat."

Reallly? Have you spent a lot of time in Chicago during the NBA season?

 

[Joe Williams]

"NBA interest in Chicago doesn't rank high enough to devote two people to the beat."

Reallly? Have you spent a lot of time in Chicago during the NBA season?

Yes, Fran, I have. Both metros add personnel for the postseason but during the season, it's a 1-beat person job.

I think both the Tribune and the Sun-Times were better off when they had national writers in addition to their Bulls beat guys -- Sam Smith at the Tribune and Lacy Banks at the Sun-Times. But that's going back a half-dozen years or so. The Bears and the combo of the Cubs/White Sox demand 2-3 (or more) reporters per beat but the Bulls haven't, at least since the Jordan era.

 

[Fran Curci]

I think with increased demand for blogs, video, chats, you could easily justify two on the Bulls. You could get away with less, but going with two would be wise.

 

[GidalKaiser]

According to APSE's Twitter, Minneapolis Star-Trib Vikings writer Dan Wiederer is moving from the Twin Cities to the Windy City