By now, you may have seen that The Chicago Tribune has cut White Sox and Blackhawks coverage. In an article posted by Awful Announcing the Trib appears to be cutting payroll and its White Sox coverage. Earlier this week Chris Kuc and Paul Skrbina were called back from White Sox and Blackhawks coverage, respectively. They were later dismissed from the Trib.
-30-
— Chris Kuc (@ChrisKuc) March 15, 2018
When you get laid off while covering a team on the road and your flight home gets delayed three hours (and counting).
Have yourself a day, Chris.
— Chris Kuc (@ChrisKuc) March 15, 2018
Kuc clued the world in on Mar. 15 while Skrbina waited a tad longer to announce his dismissal from the paper.
And that's a -30- on almost nine years with the Chicago Tribune for me. Almost nine more than I ever thought I'd get.
— Paul Skrbina (@PaulSkrbina) March 23, 2018
Jon Heyman chimed in on the matter offering his support of balanced coverage of all professional teams in major cities.
this is a sad moment. the tribune always had a good sports section. but you have to cover the key teams to be a serious section — you can't pick and choose which fans you serve. https://t.co/IutrMkEGnd
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 24, 2018
Media reporter Robert Feder reported that Tronc, the Trib’s parent company would not confirm the scale of cutbacks.
“Marisa Kollias, vice president of communications and public relations for parent company tronc, would not confirm the number of layoffs.”
Feder was also able to pry the following nebulous statement from Tronc:
“The Chicago Tribune is fully committed to covering the Chicago White Sox and the Chicago Blackhawks. We value and understand the importance of covering sports both for fans and our readers.”
A source with knowledge of the situation shared that Fabian Aradaya, a freelancer for The Athletic MLB and MLB.com will cover the rest of White Sox camp for the Trib while Colleen Kane who covered the South Siders last season before being reassigned to Bears coverage, will travel to Kansas City for the first series of the season. Though, after the Royals series, it’s unclear who and how the Trib plans to cover the White Sox’s season.
The White Sox have long played second fiddle to the Cubs and a thick animus between fan bases is only inflamed by the media’s imbalanced coverage. The Bulls, Blackhawks and Bears don’t have competing fan bases in the city leaving baseball with this dubious distinction. Both clubs have been staples of the city for over a century and as Heyman notes, it’s important for the media to stave off bias and give equal attention to all teams in a season.
With the uncertain future of the Trib’s coverage of the White Sox, there is an opportunity. Traditional media companies are still reeling from the constant evolution of technology and how to remain solvent as advertising revenue shifts in unpredictable ways and from platform to platform. Rest assured, Sports Mockery is here to fill the gap in coverage.
We have recently been granted a measure of press access to the White Sox and we plan to provide a unique blend of coverage that speaks to our readership and the White Sox fan base. It’s an exciting time around the organization and our goal is to provide special coverage that adds to the growing conversation on the south side of Chicago. While we don’t have the budget to compete with large media companies like the Sun-Times, Daily Herald or The Athletic — and we won’t be in the clubhouse after every game — we plan to use our access to bring White Sox fans distinctive stories with a singular voice.
Sports Mockery is growing, and we hope to retain your loyalty to our brand of journalism and fill the void the Trib is leaving open.
