Chicago Tribune The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago , Illinois , United States , and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company . Formerly self - styled as the " World ' s Greatest Newspaper " ( for which WGN radio and television are named ) , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is currently the eighth largest newspaper in the United States by circulation ( and became the second largest under Tribune ' s ownership after the Chicago Tribune ' s parent company purchased the " Los Angeles Times " ) . Traditionally published as a broadsheet , on January 13 , 2009 , the " Tribune " announced it would continue publishing as a broadsheet for home delivery , but would publish in tabloid format for newsstand , news box and commuter station sales . The Tribune ' s masthead is notable for displaying the American flag , in reference to the paper ' s motto , " An American Paper for Americans , " which is no longer displayed on the masthead , where it was below the flag . On April 2 , 2007 , the Tribune Company announced a buy - out plan led by Chicago real estate magnate Sam Zell worth $ 8 . 2 billion , associated with a stock buyback at $ 34 per share , and an Employee Stock Ownership Plan . The deal closed on December 20 , 2007 , with Zell as the company ' s new chairman . As part of the deal , the company sold the Chicago Cubs and its properties , including Wrigley Field and a stake in Comcast SportsNet Chicago , to the family of J . Joseph Ricketts . Less than a year after the deal closed , the Tribune Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on December 8 , 2008 . History . The " Tribune " was founded by James Kelly , John E . Wheeler and Joseph K . C . Forrest , publishing its first edition on June 10 , 1847 . The paper saw numerous changes in ownership and editorship over the next eight years . Initially , the " Tribune " was not politically affiliated but tended to support either the Whig or Free Soil parties against the Democrats in elections . By late 1853 , it was frequently running xenophobic editorials that criticized foreigners and Roman Catholics . About this time it also became a strong proponent of temperance . However nativist its editorials may have been , it was not until February 10 , 1855 that the " Tribune " formally affiliated itself with the nativist American or Know Nothing party , whose candidate Levi Boone was elected Mayor of Chicago the following month . By about 1854 , part - owner Capt . J . D . Webster , later General Webster and chief of staff at the Battle of Shiloh , and Dr . Charles H . Ray of Galena , Illinois through Horace Greeley convinced Joseph Medill of Cleveland ' s " Leader " to become managing editor . Ray became editor - in - chief , Medill became the managing editor , and Alfred Cowles , Sr . , brother of Edwin Cowles , initially was the bookkeeper . Each purchased one third of the " Tribune " . Under their leadership the " Tribune " distanced itself from the Know Nothings and became the main Chicago organ of the Republican Party . However , the paper continued to print anti - Catholic and anti - Irish editorials . The " Tribune " absorbed three other Chicago publications under the new editors : the " Free West " in 1855 , the " Democratic Press " in 1858 , and the " Chicago Democrat " in 1861 , whose editor , John Wentworth , left his position to become Chicago Mayor . Between 1858 and 1860 , the paper was known as the " Chicago Press & Tribune " . After November 1860 , it became the " Chicago Daily Tribune " . Before and during the American Civil War , the new editors pushed an abolitionist agenda and strongly supported Abraham Lincoln , whom Medill helped secure the Presidency in 1860 . The paper remained a force in Republican politics for years afterwards . In 1861 , the " Tribune " published new lyrics for the song " John Brown ' s Body " by William W . Patton , rivaling the ones published two months later by Julia Ward Howe . Medill served as mayor of Chicago for one term after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 . Under the 20th - century editorship of Colonel Robert R . McCormick the paper was strongly isolationist and actively biased in its coverage of political news and social trends , calling itself " The American Paper for Americans , " excoriating the Democrats and the New Deal , resolutely disdainful of the British and French and greatly enthusiastic for Chiang Kai - shek and Sen . Joseph McCarthy . When McCormick assumed the position of co - editor ( with his cousin Joseph Medill Patterson ) in 1910 , the " Tribune " was the third - best - selling paper among Chicago ' s eight dailies , with a circulation of only 188 , 000 . The young cousins added features such as advice columns and homegrown comic strips like " Little Orphan Annie " and " Moon Mullins " , then turned to " crusades " , with their first success coming with the ouster of the Republican political boss of Illinois , Sen . William Lorimer . At the same time , the Tribune competed with the Hearst paper , the " Chicago Examiner " , in a circulation war . By 1914 , the cousins succeeded in forcing out Managing Editor William Keeley . By 1918 , the " Examiner " was forced to merge with the " Chicago Herald " . In the 1920s , Patterson left to take over the editorship of his own paper , the " New York Daily News " . In a renewed circulation war with Hearst ' s " Herald - Examiner " , McCormick and Hearst ran rival lotteries in 1922 . The " Tribune " won the battle , adding 250 , 000 readers to its ranks . Also in 1922 , the " Chicago Tribune " hosted an international design competition for its new headquarters , the Tribune Tower . The competition worked brilliantly as a publicity stunt , and more than 260 entries were received . The winner was a neo - Gothic design by New York architects John Mead Howells and Raymond Hood . During the McCormick years , the " Tribune " was a champion of modified spelling ( such as spelling " although " as " altho " ) . McCormick , a vigorous campaigner for the Republican Party , died in 1955 , just four days before Democratic boss Richard J . Daley was elected mayor for the first time . One of the great scoops in " Tribune " history came when it obtained the text of the Treaty of Versailles in June 1919 . Another was its revelation of United States war plans on the eve of the Pearl Harbor attack . The " Tribune " ' s June 7 , 1942 , front page announcement that America had broken Japan ' s naval code was actually the potential revelation of a closely guarded military secret by the paper . According to the Newseum , the story revealing that Americans broke the enemy naval codes was not cleared by censors , and had FDR so enraged that he considered shutting the " Tribune " . U . S . presidential election , 1948 . The paper is also well known for a mistake it made during the 1948 presidential election . At that time , much of its composing room staff was on strike , and early returns led the paper to believe that the Republican candidate Thomas Dewey would win . An early edition of the next day ' s paper carried the headline " DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN " , turning the paper into a collector ' s item when it turned out that Harry S . Truman won and proudly brandished it in a famous picture taken at St . Louis Union Station . More recently , the " Tribune " reported in its print edition ( Sunday , August 1 , 2010 ) that a fireworks exhibition occurred at the wedding of Chelsea Clinton . When actual reports arrived , the story was quickly edited without notice online , to more accurately recount the actual occurrences at the wedding ceremony . The " Tribune " < nowiki > ' s < / nowiki > legendary sports editor Arch Ward created the Major League Baseball All - Star Game in 1933 as part of the city ' s Century of Progress exposition . The " Tribune " < nowiki > ' s < / nowiki > reputation for innovation extended to radio — it bought an early station , WDAP , in 1924 and renamed it WGN ( AM ) , the station call letters standing for the paper ' s self - description as the " World ' s Greatest Newspaper . " WGN Television was launched April 5 , 1948 . These broadcast stations remain " Tribune " properties to this day and are among the oldest newspaper / broadcasting cross - ownerships in the country . ( Later , the " Tribune " < nowiki > ' s < / nowiki > East Coast sibling , the " New York Daily News " , would establish WPIX television and radio . ) After McCormick : The Watergate years . Although under Colonel McCormick , the " Tribune " for years refused to participate in the Pulitzer Prize competition , it has won 25 of the awards over the years , including many for editorial writing . The " Tribune " won its first post - McCormick Pulitzer in 1961 , when Carey Orr won the award for editorial cartooning . Reporter George Bliss won a Pulitzer the following year for reporting , and reporter Bill Jones snagged one in 1971 for reporting . A reporting team won the award in 1973 , followed by reporter William Mullen and photographer Ovie Carter , who won a Pulitzer for international reporting in 1975 . A local reporting team won the award in 1976 , and architecture critic Paul Gapp won a Pulitzer in 1979 . In 1969 , under the leadership of publisher Harold Grumhaus and editor Clayton Kirkpatrick ( 1915 – 2004 ) , the " Tribune " ' s past conservative partisanship became history . Though the paper retained its Republican and conservative perspective in its editorials , it began to publish perspectives in wider commentary that represented a spectrum of diverse opinions , while its news reporting no longer had the conservative slant it had in the McCormick years . In early 1974 , in a major feat of journalism , the " Tribune " published the complete 246 , 000 - word text of the Watergate tapes in a 44 - page supplement that hit the streets a mere 24 hours after the transcripts ' release by the Nixon White House . Not only was the " Tribune " the first newspaper to publish the transcripts , but it beat the Government Printing Office ' s own published version , and made headlines doing so . A week later , after studying the transcripts , the paper ' s editorial board observed that " the high dedication to grand principles that Americans have a right to expect from a President is missing from the transcript record . " The " Tribune " < nowiki > ' s < / nowiki > editors concluded that " nobody of sound mind can read < nowiki > [ the transcripts ] < / nowiki > and continue to think that Mr . Nixon has upheld the standards and dignity of the Presidency , " and called for Nixon ' s resignation . The " Tribune " call for Nixon to resign made news , reflecting not only the change in the type of conservatism practiced by the paper , but as a watershed event in terms of Nixon ' s hopes for survival in office . The White House reportedly saw the " Tribune " < nowiki > ' s < / nowiki > editorial as a loss of a long - time supporter and as a blow to Nixon ' s hopes to weather the scandal . On December 7 , 1975 , Kirkpatrick announced in a column on the editorial page that Rick Soll , a " young and talented columnist " for the paper whose work had " won a following among many Tribune readers over the last two years " resigned from the paper after acknowledging that a column he wrote that appeared on November 23 , 1975 , contained verbatim passages that another columnist wrote in 1967 and later published in a collection . Kirkpatrick did not identify the columnist . The passages in question , Kirkpatrick wrote , had been in a notebook where Soll had copied words , phrases and bits of conversation that he had wished to remember . Although the paper initially suspended Soll for a month without pay , Kirkpatrick noted that further evidence then came out that another column contained information that Soll knew was false . At that point , Kirkpatrick wrote , Tribune editors decided to accept the resignation that Soll offered when the investigation began . Soll went on to marry Chicago newspaper ( and future TV ) reporter Pam Zekman and eventually work for the short - lived " Chicago Times " magazine in the late 1980s . In March 1978 , the " Tribune " announced that it hired columnist Bob Greene away from the " Chicago Sun - Times " . The 1980s and 1990s . Kirkpatrick stepped down as editor in 1979 and was succeeded by Maxwell McCrohon ( 1928 – 2004 ) , who served as editor until 1981 , when he was transitioned to a corporate position . McCrohon held the corporate position until 1983 , when he left to become editor in chief of the United Press International . James Squires served as the paper ' s editor from July 1981 until December 1989 . Jack Fuller served as the " Tribune " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s editor from 1989 until 1993 , when he became the president and chief executive officer of the " Chicago Tribune " . Howard Tyner served as the " Tribune " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s editor from 1993 until 2001 , when he was promoted to vice president / editorial for Tribune Publishing . The " Tribune " won 11 Pulitzer prizes during the 1980s and 1990s . Editorial cartoonist Dick Locher won the award in 1983 , and editorial cartoonist Jeff MacNelly won one in 1985 . Then , future editor Jack Fuller won a Pulitzer for editorial writing in 1986 . In 1987 , reporters Jeff Lyon and Peter Gorner won a Pulitzer for explanatory reporting , and in 1988 , Dean Baquet , William Gaines and Ann Marie Lipinski won a Pulitzer for investigative reporting . In 1989 , Lois Wille won a Pulitzer for editorial writing and Clarence Page snagged the award for commentary . In 1994 , Ron Kotulak won a Pulitzer for explanatory journalism , while R . Bruce Dold won it for editorial writing . In 1998 , reporter Paul Salopek won a Pulitzer for explanatory writing , and in 1999 , architecture critic Blair Kamin won it for criticism . The " Tribune " scored a coup in 1984 when it hired popular columnist Mike Royko away from the rival " Chicago Sun - Times " . In 1986 , the " Tribune " announced that celebrated film critic Gene Siskel , the " Tribune " ' s best - known writer , was no longer the paper ' s film critic , and that his position with the paper had shifted from being that of a full - time film critic to that of a free - lance contract writer who was to write about the film industry for the Sunday paper and also provide capsule film reviews for the paper ' s entertainment sections . The demotion occurred after Siskel and longtime Chicago film critic colleague Roger Ebert decided to shift the production of their weekly movie - review show — then known as At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert and later known as Siskel & Ebert & The Movies — from Tribune Entertainment to The Walt Disney Company ' s Buena Vista Television unit . " He has done a great job for us , " editor James Squires said at the time . " It ' s a question of how much a person can do physically . We think you need to be a newspaper person first , and Gene Siskel has always tried to do that . But there comes a point when a career is so big that you can ' t do that . " Siskel declined to comment on the new arrangement , but Ebert publicly criticized Siskel ' s " Tribune " bosses for punishing Siskel for taking their television program to a company other than Tribune Entertainment . Siskel remained in that free - lance position until his death in 1999 . He was replaced as film critic in 1986 by Dave Kehr . In November 1992 , " Tribune " associate subject editor Searle " Ed " Hawley was arrested by Chicago police and charged with seven counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse for allegedly having sex with three juveniles in his home in Evanston , Illinois . Hawley formally resigned from the paper in early 1993 , and pleaded guilty in April 1993 . He was sentenced to 3 years in prison . In an unusual move at that time , the " Tribune " in October 1993 fired its longtime military - affairs writer , retired - Marine David Evans , with the public position that the post of military affairs was being dropped in favor of having a national security writer . In December 1993 , the " Tribune " ' s longtime Washington , D . C . bureau chief , Nicholas Horrock , was removed from his post after he chose not to attend a meeting that editor Howard Tyner requested of him in Chicago . Horrock , who shortly thereafter left the paper , was replaced by James Warren , who attracted new attention to the Tribune ' s D . C . bureau through his continued attacks on celebrity broadcast journalists in Washington . Also in December 1993 , the " Tribune " hired Margaret Holt from the South Florida Sun - Sentinel as its assistant managing editor for sports , making her the first female to head a sports department at any of the nation ' s 10 largest newspapers . In mid - 1995 , Holt was replaced as sports editor by Tim Franklin and shifted to a newly created job , customer service editor . In 1994 , reporter Brenda You was fired by the " Tribune " after free - lancing for supermarket tabloid newspapers and lending them photographs from the " Tribune " ' s photo library . You later worked for the " National Enquirer " and as a producer for " The Jerry Springer Show " before committing suicide in November 2005 . In April 1994 , the " Tribune " ' s new television critic , Ken Parish Perkins , wrote an article about then - WFLD - TV morning news anchor Bob Sirott in which Perkins quoted Sirott as making a statement that Sirott later denied making . Sirott criticized Perkins on the air , and the " Tribune " later printed a correction acknowledging that Sirott had never made that statement . Eight months later , Perkins stepped down as TV critic , and he left the paper shortly thereafter . In December 1995 , the alternative newsweekly " Newcity " published a first - person article by the pseudonymous Clara Hamon ( a name mentioned in the play " The Front Page " ) but quickly identified by " Tribune " reporters as that of former " Tribune " reporter Mary Hill that heavily criticized the paper ' s one - year residency program . The program brought young journalists in and out of the paper for one - year stints , seldom resulting in a full - time job . Hill , who wrote for the paper from 1992 until 1993 , acknowledged to the " Chicago Reader " that she had written the diatribe originally for the Internet , and that the piece eventually was edited for " Newcity " . In 1997 , the " Tribune " celebrated its 150th anniversary in part by tapping longtime reporter Stevenson Swanson to edit the book " Chicago Days : 150 Defining Moments in the Life of a Great City " . On April 29 , 1997 , popular columnist Mike Royko died of a brain aneurysm . On September 2 , 1997 , the " Tribune " promoted longtime City Hall reporter John Kass to take Royko ' s place as the paper ' s principal Page Two news columnist . On June 1 , 1997 , the " Tribune " published what ended up becoming a very popular column by Mary Schmich called " Advice , like youth , probably just wasted on the young " , otherwise known as " Wear Sunscreen " or the " Sunscreen Speech . " The most popular and well - known form of the essay is the successful music single released in 1999 , accredited to Baz Luhrmann . In 1998 , reporter Jerry Thomas was fired by the " Tribune " after he wrote a cover article on boxing promoter Don King for " Emerge " magazine at the same time that he was writing a cover article on King for the " Chicago Tribune " Sunday magazine . The paper decided to fire Thomas — and suspend his photographer on the " Emerge " story , Pulitzer Prize - winning " Tribune " photographer Ovie Carter for a month — because Thomas did not tell the " Tribune " about his outside work and also because the " Emerge " story wound up appearing in print first . The " Tribune " has been a leader on the Internet , acquiring 10 percent of America Online in the early 1990s , then launching such web sites as Chicagotribune . com ( 1995 ) , Metromix . com ( 1996 ) , ChicagoSports . com ( 1999 ) , ChicagoBreakingNews . com ( 2008 ) , and ChicagoNow . com ( 2009 ) . In 2002 , the paper launched a tabloid edition targeted at 18 - to 34 - year - olds known as " RedEye " . The 2000s . Ann Marie Lipinski was the paper ' s editor from February 2001 until stepping down on July 17 , 2008 . Gerould W . Kern was named the paper ' s editor in July 2008 . In early August 2008 , managing editor for news Hanke Gratteau resigned , and several weeks later , managing editor for features James Warren resigned as well . Both were replaced by Jane Hirt , who previously had been the editor of the " Tribune " ' s " RedEye " tabloid . In June 2000 , Times Mirror merged with Tribune Company making " The Baltimore Sun " and its community papers Baltimore Sun Media Group / Patuxent Publishing a subsidiary of Tribune . Tribune ' s Baltimore Community papers include " Arbutus Times " , " Baltimore Messenger " , " Catonsville Times " , " Columbia Flier " , " Howard County Times " , " The Jeffersonian " , " Laurel Leader " , " Lifetimes " , " North County News " , " Northeast Booster " , " Northeast Reporter " , " Owings Mills Times " , and " Towson Times " . The " Howard County Times " ( www . explorehoward . com ) was named 2010 Newspaper of the Year by the Suburban Newspaper Association . The " Towson Times " expands coverage beyond the Towson area and includes Baltimore County government and politics . The " Tribune " won five Pulitzer prizes in the first decade of the 21st century . Salopek won his second Pulitzer for the Tribune in 2001 for international reporting , and that same year an explanatory reporting team — lead writers of which were Louise Kiernan , Jon Hilkevitch , Laurie Cohen , Robert Manor , Andrew Martin , John Schmeltzer , Alex Rodriguez and Andrew Zajac — won the honor for a profile of the chaotic U . S . air traffic system . In 2003 , editorial writer Cornelia Grumman snagged the award for editorial writing . In 2005 , Julia Keller won a Pulitzer for feature reporting on a tornado that struck Utica , Illinois . And , in 2008 , an investigative reporting team including Patricia Callahan , Maurice Possley , Sam Roe , Ted Gregory , Michael Oneal and Evan Osnos won the Pulitzer for its series about faulty government regulation of defective toys , cribs and car seats . In late 2001 , sports columnist Michael Holley announced he was leaving the " Tribune " after just two months because he was homesick . He ultimately returned to the " Boston Globe " , where he had been working immediately before the " Tribune " had hired him . On September 15 , 2002 , Lipinski wrote a terse , page - one note informing readers that the paper ' s longtime columnist , Bob Greene , resigned effective immediately after acknowledging " engaging in inappropriate sexual conduct some years ago with a girl in her late teens whom he met in connection with his newspaper column . " The conduct later was revealed to have occurred in 1988 with a woman who was of the age of consent in Illinois . " Greene ' s behavior was a serious violation of Tribune ethics and standards for its journalists , " Lipinski wrote . " We deeply regret the conduct , its effect on the young woman and the impact this disclosure has on the trust our readers placed in Greene and this newspaper . " In March 2004 , the " Tribune " announced that free - lance reporter Uli Schmetzer , who retired from the " Tribune " in 2002 after 16 years as a foreign correspondent , had fabricated the name and occupation of a person he had quoted in a story . The paper terminated Schmetzer as a contract reporter and began a review of the 300 stories that Schmetzer had written over the prior three years . In May 2004 , the " Tribune " revealed that free - lance reporter Mark Falanga was unable to verify some facts that he inserted in a lifestyle - related column that ran on April 18 , 2004 , about an expensive lunch at a Chicago restaurant — namely , that the restaurant charged $ 15 for a bottle of water and $ 35 for a pasta entree . " Upon questioning , the freelance writer indicated the column was based on an amalgam of three restaurants and could not verify the prices , " the paper noted . After the correction , the " Tribune " stopped using Falanga . In October 2004 , " Tribune " editor Ann Marie Lipinski at the last minute spiked a story written for the paper ' s WomanNews section by free - lance reporter Lisa Bertagnoli titled " You c _ nt say that ( or can you ? ) , " about a noted vulgarism . The paper ordered every spare body to go to the " Tribune " ' s printing plant to pull already - printed WomanNews sections containing the story from the Wednesday , October 27 , 2004 , package of preprinted sections in the " Tribune " . In September 2008 , the " Tribune " considered hiring controversial sports columnist Jay Mariotti , shortly after his abrupt resignation from " Tribune " archrival " Chicago Sun - Times " . Discussions ultimately ended , however , after the " Sun - Times " threatened to sue for violating Mariotti ' s noncompete agreement , which was to run until August 2009 . In April 2009 , 55 " Tribune " reporters and editors signed their names to an e - mail sent to Kern and managing editor Jane Hirt , questioning why the newspaper ' s marketing department had solicited subscribers ' opinions on stories before they were published , and suggesting that the practice raised ethical questions as well as legal and competitive issues . Among those who signed off on the e - mail were reporters John D . McCormick and Rick Kogan . Reporters declined to speak on the record to the Associated Press about their issues . " We ' ll let the e - mail speak for itself , " reporter John Chase told the AP . In the wake of the controversy , Kern abruptly discontinued the effort , which he described as " a brief market research project . " In the first decade of the 21st century , the " Tribune " had multiple rounds of reductions of staff through layoffs and buyouts as it has coped with the industrywide declines in advertising revenues : The " Tribune " broke the story on Friday , May 29 , 2009 , that several students had been admitted to the University of Illinois based upon connections or recommendations by the school ' s Board of Trustees , Chicago politicians , and members of the Rod Blagojevich administration . Initially denying the existence of a so - called " Category I " admissions program , university President B . Joseph " Joe " White and Chancellor Richard Herman later admitted that there were instances of preferential treatment . Although they claimed the list was short and their role was minor , the " Tribune " , in particular , revealed emails through a FOIA finding that White had received a recommendation for a relative of convicted fundraiser Tony Rezko to be admitted . The Tribune also later posted emails from Herman pushing for underqualified students to be accepted . The " Tribune " has since filed suit against the University administration under the Freedom of Information Act to acquire the names of students benefited by administrative clout and impropriety . The 2010s . On February 8 , 2010 , the " Chicago Tribune " shrank its newspaper ' s width by an inch . They said that the new format was becoming the industry standard and that there would be minimal content changes . In July 2011 , the " Chicago Tribune " underwent its first round of layoffs of editorial employees in more than two years , letting go about 20 editors and reporters . Among those let go were health care business reporter Bruce Japsen , DuPage County reporter Art Barnum , Editorial Board member Pat Widder and photographer Dave Pierini . Editorial policy . In a 2007 statement of principles published in the " Tribune " ' s print and online editions , the paper ' s editorial board described the newspaper ' s philosophy , from which is excerpted the following : The " Tribune " has remained economically conservative , being widely skeptical of increasing the minimum wage and entitlement spending . Although the " Tribune " criticized the Bush administration ' s record on civil liberties , the environment , and many aspects of its foreign policy , it continued to support his presidency while taking Democrats , such as Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and Cook County Board President Todd Stroger , to task and calling for their removal from office . In 2004 , the " Tribune " endorsed President George W . Bush for re - election , a decision consistent with its longstanding support for the Republican Party . In 2008 , it endorsed Democratic candidate and Illinois junior U . S . Senator Barack Obama - - the first time that it had ever endorsed a Democrat for president . The " Tribune " endorsed Obama once again for reelection in 2012 . The " Tribune " has previously backed independent candidates . In 1872 , it supported Horace Greeley , a former Republican Party newspaper editor , and in 1912 the paper endorsed Theodore Roosevelt , who ran on the Progressive Party slate against Republican President William Howard Taft . Over the years , the " Tribune " has endorsed Democrats for lesser offices , including recent endorsements of Bill Foster , Barack Obama for the Senate and Democrat Melissa Bean , who defeated Philip Crane , the House of Representatives ' longest - serving Republican . Though the " Tribune " endorsed George Ryan in the 1998 Illinois gubernatorial race , the paper subsequently investigated and reported on the scandals surrounding Ryan during his preceding years as Secretary of State . Ryan declined to stand for re - election in 2002 and was subsequently indicted , convicted and imprisoned as a result of the scandal . Tribune Company . The " Chicago Tribune " is the founding business unit of Tribune Company , which includes many newspapers and television stations around the country . In Chicago , Tribune owns the WGN radio station ( 720 AM ) and WGN - TV ( Channel 9 ) . Tribune Company also owns the " Los Angeles Times " - - which displaced the Tribune as the company ' s largest property — and the Chicago Cubs baseball team . The Cubs were sold in 2009 . Tribune Company owned " The New York Daily News " from its 1919 founding until its 1991 sale to Robert Maxwell . The founder of the " News " , Capt . Joseph Patterson and Col . McCormick , were both descendants of Medill . Both were also enthusiasts of simplified spelling , another hallmark of their papers for many years . Tribune Company sold the Long Island newspaper " Newsday " in 2008 . Since 1925 , the " Chicago Tribune " has been housed in the Tribune Tower on North Michigan Avenue on the Magnificent Mile . The building is neo - Gothic in style , and the design was the winner of an international competition hosted by the " Tribune " . On June 25 , 2008 , the Tribune company announced they had hired a real estate company to entertain bids of the sale of both the Tribune Tower in Chicago , and the Times Building in Los Angeles . The " Los Angeles Times " , is also owned by the Tribune Company . 2008 redesign . The September 2008 redesign ( discussed here on the " Tribune " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s web site ) was controversial and is largely regarded as an effort in cost - cutting . Since then the newspaper has returned to a more toned down style . The style is more a mix of the old style and a new modern style . Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection . After a $ 124 million dollar third - quarter loss , the Tribune Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on December 8 , 2008 . The company made its filing with the U . S . Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware , citing a debt of $ 13 billion and assets of $ 7 . 6 billion . As part of its bankruptcy plan , owner Sam Zell intended to sell the Cubs to reduce debt . This sale has become linked to the corruption charges leading to the December 9 , 2008 , arrest of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich . Specifically , the ex - governor was accused of exploiting the paper ' s financial trouble in an effort to have several editors fired . Prices . The " Tribune " prices are : $ 1 Daily , $ 1 . 99 / $ 1 . 75 Sunday / Thanksgiving Day . The " Tribune " on weekdays was $ 0 . 75 until January 18 , 2010 , when it was raised to $ 1 .