‘I’ll be with you … until I’m not’ / Free rides / ‘The message stinks’

‘I’ll be with you … until I’m not.’ That’s the grim note at the bottom of Tribune columnist* Eric Zorn’s weekly email to readers following the purchase of parent company Tribune Publishing by the ax-inclined Alden Global Capital.
Among the first cuts: Tribune Publishing’s CEO, Terry Jimenez—the only Tribune board member to oppose the deal.
His replacement: This sexy beast, who The Wall Street Journal says contends cuts are essential to saving newspapers.
The Journal’s Lukas Alpert reports that, to close the deal, Alden borrowed $278 million—debt it’s dumping on Tribune’s books, ratcheting up the pressure for layoffs.
Media writer Tom Jones: “Now journalists … hold their collective breath.”

Regulatory relief. At today’s City Council meeting, Mayor Lightfoot planned to roll out post-pandemic reforms to make life easier for consumers, restaurants and other businesses …
Also on the agenda: A vote on renaming Lake Shore Drive in honor of Jean Baptiste Point DuSable …
See the aldermen in action live here.
 The mayor’s released a funny video to announce that city beaches reopen Friday for the first time since September 2019.

Free rides. Get vaccinated against COVID-19—free—at Chicago-run sites and get up to five free Six Flags tickets.
A Chicago alderman is pushing an ordinance to limit surge pricing by rideshare companies.

‘How we wish that were true.’ A year after the murder death of George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis, columnist Dahleen Glanton reflects: “Floyd’s 6-year-old daughter thought his murder would change the world. It didn’t.”
Floyd’s sister yesterday boycotted a family meeting with President Biden, complaining he “broke a promise” to sign federal police reforms before yesterday’s anniversary.
A Sun-Times editorial is more upbeat: “Any way you cut it … real police reform is coming to Chicago.”
Chicago’s beloved 122-year-old Central Camera, which went up in flames during last year’s protests of Floyd’s death, is still boarded up—but also still in business.
The family of Adam Toledo, who’d have turned 14 today had he not been shot and killed by a Chicago cop, is creating a rural sanctuary for kids at risk.
The Conversation details police body cameras’ downside for citizens.

‘Greene is fixated on Jews.’ Sun-Times Washington bureau chief Lynn Sweet says House Republicans need to discipline “noxious” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
The Washington Post’s Aaron Blake doesn’t expect Greene to fade away: “It’s only a matter of time before there’s something else. And that something also will in all likelihood … be worse.”

‘The message stinks.’ Trib columnist Heidi Stevens lays into a Florida public high school “whose faculty yearbook coordinator edited at least 80 girls’ photos to cover up any tiny hint of the chests they had the audacity to grow.”
Ex- Self-described diasporan Chicagoan Mike Gold notes sarcastically: “Cleavage is bad and must be exorcised, at least at Bartram Trail High School in St. John’s Florida, where Principal Chris Phelps can be reached at (904) 547-8340.”
Columnist Clarence Page: “Let’s talk about hair.”**

‘Try to imagine this last year without the net.’
Rejecting a recurring theme in recent news coverage—that the internet is to blame for “the polarization of society, a toxic ecosystem of hate, renewed racism, the deterioration of the public square, the destruction of democracy, a pandemic of disinformation, the rise of paranoid conspiracy cults, an increase of tyranny, the so-called surveillance economy, the death of privacy, the end of individuality, the twilight of free will, rampant harassment, sex trafficking, mental health morbidities, addiction to our screens, outright evil, and making us stupid”—visionary journalism professor Jeff Jarvis takes a moment to express his gratitude for what it made possible through the pandemic. (Cartoon: Keith J. Taylor.)

Prime Bond. Amazon has a deal to buy MGM—including the James Bond movie franchise …
  … but not The Wizard of Oz.
 Variety reviews Disney’s new movie Cruella: A deliciously dark, unexpectedly empowering origin story.”

About halfway in … The month-long #SaveChicagoMedia campaign by the 43 organizations that constitute the Chicago Independent Media Alliance—including Chicago Public Square—has been bringing in about $1,000 a day. That’s about 33% below expectations. You can help them all, or just pick your favorites, here.
Hey, this is happening tonight:

Chicago Public Square supports the Museum of Broadcast Communications.

Thanks to Pam Spiegel for making this edition better.
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** Your Square columnist hates dress codes.

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