Albom's Syndicate to Offer Newspapers Other Columnists

By: Dave Astor Tribune Media Services will offer Mitch Albom's newspaper clients other TMS columnists while his work is suspended by the Detroit Free Press.

"We want to make sure folks who subscribe to Mitch have alternatives during this period," said John Twohey, TMS vice president for editorial and operations. He told E&P that possible substitutes being discussed by the syndicate this morning include Leonard Pitts Jr., who won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for commentary, and Kathleen Parker.

Have any newspapers canceled Albom's column? "Not to my knowledge," replied Twohey, who declined to say how many clients subscribe to the Free Press writer.

The best-selling author's column is not appearing in the Free Press while the newspaper investigates his controversial past-tense piece of earlier this month. Albom, in a column submitted April 1 for April 3 publication, wrote about something he thought would happen on April 2. Albom had interviewed two NBA players about their plans to get together at the April 2 NCAA basketball game between Michigan State and North Carolina. Then he wrote in the past tense about their experience at the game. But scheduling conflicts caused the two players to miss the game. Albom apologized for the mistake.

The investigation -- being conducted by a Free Press editor and four reporters -- will not only look at Albom's April 3 column but also some of his previous work to see if similar mistakes were made. And the team will scrutinize the editing process that allowed the April 3 column to get into print.