Posted by chicagomedia.org on March 12, 2009 at 13:15:33:
Bernie Lincicome blogs on
Of all the valedictory columns in the final edition of Denver's Rocky Mountain News, none was better than that of former Chicago Tribune columnist Bernie Lincicome.
Lincicome, who spent 17 years in Chicago before leaving for the Rocky in 2000, reflected on exits and excellence he has seen over a lengthy career in an essay that was poignant yet also pointed, particularly with regard to MediaNews' surviving Denver Post and Rocky owner E.W. Scripps Co.:
"The best newspaper is dead and for no good reason, save the spine to fight on, a battle lost to lessers and to a marketplace diverted by ease. The world today can be held in the palm of the hand, with all the news and sounds and motion a tap away.
"These are familiar agonies that grip the newspaper industry across the land and may yet do in the survivor here, victory not a conclusion as much as an amnesty."
Who else but Lincicome would (or could) refer to former Cubs infielder Larry Bowa as "that little knuckle of a shortstop" or golfer Jack Nicklaus, past his prime and pausing for photographers, as "stubbornly dressed in a sweater vest in fashion when he was"?
Because a writer writes even when he has no paper, Lincicome has launched a blog. While his prose and perspective have never been to everyone's taste. To devotees, that's always been part of the appeal, along with the craftsmanship, the intelligence and, on occasion, the shiv elegantly wielded.
Like so many jobless journalists, he hasn't quite settled in comfortably in his new online home, bernielincicome.com . But he is trying -- at least until other accommodations can be found -- as he himself notes in his March 9 post:
"I should have a fresh appreciation for bloggers, but I do not yet. Every word typed is as closely considered as ever, every original thought is as savored, every sentence as well crafted as talent allows.
"Yet, to be self-published still seems to be unnoticed, to imagine notice is to be self-deluded.
"This is not the game. This is just calisthenics."
A true fan appreciates the grace, agility and strength in both.
(Phil Rosenthal, Chicago Tribune)