'Chic. Trib' Ombud Agrees Column Went Too Far

By: Joe Strupp Chicago Tribune Public Editor Don Wycliff admits he "went over the top" with a column slamming President Bush's recent speech before the American Society of Newspaper Editors, in which Wycliff called Bush's comments "one of the most confusing, inarticulate public addresses" and criticized the White House beat writers as "hopelessly biased reporters." But Wycliff added: "I think the main point of the piece was right on target."

The heated piece drew written rebukes from both the editor of the Denver Rocky Mountain News, John Temple, and the Tribune's alternative nemesis, the Chicago Reader.

Wycliff said he also used the column to take shots at what he called regular readers who "can't find anything in the Tribune that they don't label biased against Bush."

"Why is the press protecting George W. Bush?" the column began. "You heard me right, Russ. And Larry. And Byron. And all the rest of you folks who pen those jeering notes to me everyday about anti-Bush bias in the Tribune's news reports."

"I probably would have toned down the beginning," Wycliff told E&P when asked how he would have written it differently following the initial criticism. "It wasn't necessary to get testy with individuals in print."

Wycliff said he actually got a "cascade of positive responses" to the column, but said negative reactions came in later.

Temple launched the first critique in a column that ran May 1. "Great writing, but completely over the top for a guy the public is supposed to be able to trust to listen to their point of view with an open mind," Temple's piece stated. "He sounds mad, not at Bush but at his paper's readers who bother him with their nonsense about bias."

"I voted for Wycliff to be on the board of the American Society of Newspaper Editors because I think he's shown himself to be a thoughtful journalist," Temple added. "But I wish he had been more measured in this column."

Wycliff said he sent Temple a note stating that the Denver-based editor was right about his criticism. "I thought it was appropriate for him to respond," Wycliff said.

Today, the Reader's Michael Miner took the public editor to task, saying "Wycliff has turned his job into a forum. In his previous Tribune assignment he ran the editorial page, a big job but a constraining one. Now that he's speaking only for himself he can let 'er rip." He also called Wycliff's recent columns "pointed and angry -- OK, grumpy."

Wycliff said Friday he had not read the Reader piece and was surprised the column was still getting reaction more than a week later. "When I finish a column, I stop thinking about it because I am thinking about the next column," he said, but added, "you put something out there so people will read it and react to it."

The public editor said he had not received any negative reaction from higher-level editors at the Tribune and, when asked if it had changed his approach to his column, he stated "absolutely not."