1983 - 2023 — The Weekly Opine

A 40-year subscription to the Chicago Tribune ended Sunday, June 11.

The late, great…

Chicago Tribune. Or at least my long-time subscription – to what was one of America’s great newspapers – falls into the late, great category. Fortunately, the Washington Post and New York Times continue as examples of smartly run journalistic high marks, distancing themselves from the Tribune like Secretariat running away from the pack in the 1973 Belmont Stakes.

Nowadays, the Chicago Tribune, or “Trib” as it’s affectionately known, slumps like a bored teenager in a mandatory, non-major university class. Today, the Trib conjures up thoughts of mismanagement by egotistical bean counters inclined to foolish risk-taking.

Consequently, what transpired last week, when I buried my 40-year Tribune subscription, was inevitable.

Weary of dancing

I’ve done the negotiation dance with the Chicago Tribune the past five years. The Tribune would try raising my subscription rate and I’d call to complain, pointing out their incessant subscription rate deals offered to new subscribers.

The drill would go like this: I’d get a bill with a rate increase then call the Tribune and say, “I’m a loyal, long-time subscriber. Give me the new subscriber rate.” The customer service rep would say they cannot give me the new subscriber rate but instead, with zero resistance, would offer to keep my rate as is. (Give them credit; unlike a lot of businesses these days, when calling the Tribune it doesn’t take long at all to speak with a real person).

The neo-Gothic Tribune Tower (building in center) no longer houses a newsroom filled with world-class journalists. Now the tower houses condominium residents. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Negotiations that allowed me to keep the same rate were satisfactory, for both me and the Tribune. But recently the annual dance became a bothersome headache. A couple of years ago, signaling to the Tribune our relationship was in jeopardy, I changed my newspaper subscription from daily to only Sunday, with daily access to the Tribune’s digital content. (I rarely read the digital Trib due to its sophomoric overall experience.)

Old school

Admittedly, I have some old school in me. For example, I believe biological boys should play sports against biological boys and biological girls should play sports against biological girls (maybe that’s less old school and more common sense). But I digress.

The reason for not agreeing to 100% digital – with no paper delivered to my home – is because the ritual of sorting the paper and then reading it is satisfactory. Starting with the comics, to loosen up a bit. Then the travel section, a fun section to explore and learn from. (When the subscription started, in my mid-20s, I would read the sports page first but then decided to reorder things.) My cadence became comics, travel, business, real estate, sports, main news local, main news national/international, editorials and arts & entertainment.

Same as newspapers across the globe, the Chicago Tribune’s September 12, 2001, edition covered the unimaginable events from the prior day.

Another reason I like the physical paper is there’s a tactile nature to reading a newspaper that is non-existent with digital content. Reading digitally is, comparatively, somewhat cold. Especially with the amount of junk popping up that interrupts your flow. So, I hung on, clinging to my newspaper like a trapeze artist clings to their partner. Finally, last week, I decided to let go, even declining the customer service rep’s offer to go all-digital for just pennies a day.

In fairness, overall, the Tribune did right by me. Years ago, I ran over the Sunday paper with my snow blower. We had about six inches of snow, and I knew the paper was buried out there on the driveway. Sure enough, I plowed over the newspaper, chewing it up like fruit in a blender. After calling to explain what happened, the Tribune delivery person started tossing my paper on the front porch, even while all the neighbor’s newspapers, to this day, are left on their driveway near the street.

Quality reduction

Unfortunately, the Chicago Tribune began losing me several years ago. As part of a fateful, misguided cost-cutting move, the Trib separated from my favorite columnists. Maybe they were forced out or given early retirement packages or allowed to leave on their own. But losing talents such as Steve Chapman, Eric Zorn, Mary Schmich, Rex Huppke, and esteemed architectural critic Blair Kamin hurt the Trib. All were consummate professionals and terrific writers.

The day after Barack Obama was sworn in as president, the Trib published a special section honoring Chicago’s hometown hero.

Also, as I explained to the customer service rep, when we did our keep-my-rate-the-same dance, the Tribune relied too heavily on stories from other sources such as the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, AP News, the Miami Herald and so on. Today, it feels less and less like the Chicago Tribune.

I don’t even mind that the Tribune’s editorial board is conservative. It makes for healthy, alternate viewpoints that contrast where my head may be regarding a particular topic. (Yes, going forward, I will periodically pick up a Trib at the newsstand to help maintain a balanced viewpoint.) While difficult to find these days, conservatism centered on facts and empathy is welcome to the debate anytime. The combination of empathetic conservatism and common-sense progressiveness can lead to better ideas and outcomes.

On the other hand, conservatism centered on Trumpism is a malignant sickness this country must rid itself of. But again, I digress.

Right now, my “newspaper” fix will come from reading the digital version of the Washington Post, which I began subscribing to three years ago. The Apple News app, which curate’s articles from a variety of trustworthy media organizations, will continue as a key source of fact-based information, as will the BBC app, which does a marvelous job covering international news. And the ESPN app still serves up substantive sports information.

All in all, a somewhat happy ending.