Posted by chicagomedia.org on November 07, 2008 at 10:09:24:
In Reply to: Chicago Sun-Times drops QT posted by chicagomedia.org on November 06, 2008 at 15:42:50:
'Takes' taken away: Zay N. Smith, who has spent 30 of the last 32 years at the Sun-Times, learned Thursday the paper is discontinuing the blog-like "Quick Takes" column he has done for the last 12 1/2 years and returning him to the ranks of general assignment reporters.
Smith earlier rejected the paper's offer of one year's pay and health benefits to come off the payroll. He had a Sunday column ready to go that now will not run, and he has decided to take some vacation time while he weighs his options.
"We need Chicago reporters," Sun-Times Editor Michael Cooke said by e-mail. "He is one of the 'lions' of the Mirage."
Indeed, Smith, in an earlier turn as a G.A. reporter, played a role in the well-known '70s expose of city shakedowns and fixes that resulted from the paper operating a corruption magnet of a bar, the Mirage.
But Thursday's financial news makes it clear it's a different era for papers.
(Phil Rosenthal, Chicago Tribune)