The Blog

Speaking of voices from beyond the grave, I see where the Sun-Times is now re-running ancient Royko columns where actual news or current commentary might be published. That's one way to fill the paper with a smaller staff!

Notice tellzell.com isn't working? Has it been stifled by Trib higher ups?

I hope Miner stays on Kass about this. He's such a talentless ass, and he deserves to be called out about this episode with Quintanilla.

It seems that Mr. Quintanilla does not understand that you can't go around shooting off your mouth in the workplace. Join the rest of the world, Mr. Quintanilla. We can't suggest that co-workers are racist, either. Especially when your evidence to back up your charge is non-existent.

The Tell Zell link is peculiar: http://www.tellzell.com/ can't leave off the WWW part.

Kass a racist? Hard to belive that a white South Sider who's always harping on the numerous virtues of the various ethnic groups from which he's descended could be a racist. Kass probaly just dislikes everyone who isn't a Greek / Sicilian from da old neighborhood, which is to say pretty much everyone.

Kass hired Jason Meisner to replace Tom Rybarczyk. In terms of the other people laid off, here's what they did to serve Tribune readers: --Marcia Borucki, asst. subject editor, Home & Garden --Chris Brown, multimedia producer --Susan Chan, admin asst, foreign/national news --Charles Dickinson, asst. subject editor on the metro copy desk --Bill Fletcher, asst. subject editor, news editing --Peter Fuller, senior makeup editor for features --Jason Goodrich, asst. subject editor, news editing --Lana Gwinn, asst. subject editor, arts and graphics --Terry Harris, photographer --Mark Hinojosa, associae managing editor, multimedia --Julie Hudson, senior editing assistant, news editing --Paul Iwanaga, picture editor for Q and On the Town --Cheryl McAllister, public editor's office administrative assistant --Elaine Melko, asst. subject editor, arts and graphics --Steven Morris, copy editor, financial news --Gail Mitchell, graphic artist --Luke Mundo, editing assistant, Tinley Park bureau --Emeri O'Brien, asst. subject editor, metro copy desk --Dwayne Pallanti, engineer, editorial multimedia --Donna Pierce, features test kitchen --Stephen Ravenscraft, asst. subject editor, arts/graphics --Bob Reinalda, asst. subject editor, news editing --Doug Scott, copy editor, national/foreign news --Anna Seeto, editing senior assistant, Chicago Tribune magazine --Gentry Sleets, graphics coordinator --Nancy Stuermer, asst. subject editor, metro copy desk --Walter Tokarz, asst. copy editor, sports --Alberto Trevino, RedEye designer/photographer --Jeff Williams, Deputy Bureau Chief, Oak Brook Bureau --Linda Young, Overnight Asst. Subject Editor, Metro --Stan Ziemba, Overnight Asst. Subject Editor, Metro The rest (Popely, Haramis, Manor, Jenkins, Freedman, Kampert, Meitrodt, Martinez, Quintanilla) all were people who had regular bylines that would be known to readers.

Melko was a part-time employee who is 9 months pregnant with a broken leg and sprained ankle.

Did Average Joe read the piece? Ray wasn't shooting his mouth off -- he was suggesting that Kass might hire other assistance. Was that hostile? Kass certainly took it that way, but there's nothing here to say that Ray said it in a hostile manner. Maybe Kass is just thin skinned. Nor does the piece suggest that Kass can get people he's mad at fired; Average Joe is stuffing too much into these facts.

I wish that Zell would have seen the potential for a reality show, on which the remaining Tribune readers would vote off Tribune employees. There are several columnists who I think would serve the paper well by disappearing.

Zell missed the ball twice, then -- Kass might have opened up a lawsuit.

"Quintanilla heard that Kass had just hired another white legman so he e-mailed him to let him know there were minority reporters at the Tribune who could do the job too." Why should Ray Quintanilla have had a say in who John Kass hires to assist him? That's just ridiculous. If he was as deficient in news judgment as he was lacking in common sense (and tact), no wonder he was shown the door.

On second thought, it seems like Quintanilla's "dying words" were emblematic of his mission as a journalist -- to push minority interests over all else. Well, then, happy landings to him.

Must be nice to be a racist, Olson.

I think we're all missing the forest for the trees here... During times where reporters are losing their jobs, why in the hell is Kass still afforded a legman in the first place? What is this, 1974? Is he too high and mighty to actually do any reporting and research himself? And does his warmed-over right-wing talking points and faux guy-from-the-neighborhood schtick *really* need an assistant to get done? I mean, can't he just hit "F4" on his keyboard to make a Daley-Duffs reference at this point? I can name a dozen bloggers who produce more interesting, and more volumnious copy on a daily basis, all by themselves. Quintanilla had a valid point, but he missed the larger one.