[net.misc] Chicago Sun-Times loses its Star

ab3@pucc-h (Darth Wombat) (01/11/84)

	Yesterday Rupert Murdoch (sensationalist newpaper owner) 
officially took over the Chicago Sun-Times.

	Yesterday Mike Royko (man-in-the-street columnist) jumped to
the Chicago Tribune.

	Gee, when Doonesbury comes back I'll be able to find them
both in the same paper...
-- 
"Go ahead...make my day."
Darth Wombat
{ allegra, decvax, ihnp4, harpo, seismo, teklabs, ucbvax } !pur-ee!rsk

hal@cornell.UUCP (Hal Perkins) (01/15/84)

How did Royko get out of his contract with the Sun-Times?  I thought
they had exclusive use of his services for another 4 years (although he
can take a leave of absence if he wants).  Or is this the start of a
nice big court battle?


Hal Perkins                         UUCP: {decvax|vax135|...}!cornell!hal
Cornell Computer Science            ARPA: hal@cornell  BITNET: hal@crnlcs

ab3@pucc-h (Darth Wombat) (01/16/84)

	Well, apparently Mr. Royko claims that his Newpaper Guild
contract provisions override those in his contract with the Sun-Times,
and that he is therefore free to jump to the Tribune.  Not knowing the
legal relationship of the Newspaper Guild and the Times & Tribune, I suppose
it's difficult to figure out just what that means.

	In any event, one day last week the Tribune ran a new Royko column 
while the Times recycled an old one; and the lawyers all met in court.  
The preliminary ruling was in favor of Royko -- don't remember specifically 
what court this was in, but I seem to remember that it was a Cook County
Circuit or the like...

	Can't blame the man for jumping ship, after seeing what Murdoch
has done to papers elsewhere in the U.S....but I suspect that the Big Court
Battle has just begun.

-- 
"Go ahead...make my day."
Darth Wombat
{ allegra, decvax, ihnp4, harpo, seismo, teklabs, ucbvax } !pur-ee!rsk

dje@5941ux.UUCP (D.Ellis) (01/16/84)

Mike Royko's comment on the Sun-Times (now that Rupert Murdoch has taken
it over):

"No self-respecting fish would want to be wrapped in that kind of paper."

karn@allegra.UUCP (Phil Karn) (01/17/84)

Good for him!  I hope the Sun-Times quickly goes out of business, but I
can dream, can't I?

How come people like Murdoch aren't eaten by cannibals after being run
through a hamburger grinder and stored in a meat freezer by crazed satanic
cultists who take pictures of Jackie O and spontaneously burst into
flame after eating miracle diets and conducting occult rituals over
Princess Grace's picture?  It seems to happen to everybody else, at
least according to Murdoch's newspapers.

Phil